(Associated Press)
ERIC TALMADGE May 6, 2019
TOKYO — North Korea appears to have tested a new short-range missile — and President Donald Trump’s resolve to keep it from doing more of the same in the future.
The test early Saturday was quickly played down by Trump and his top advisers, who noted it was not the kind of long-range missile leader Kim Jong Un has refrained from launching since 2017.
But the sudden activity on the North’s east coast, complete with fiery photos of a purported bull’s eye out to sea, alarmed Washington’s regional allies and suggests that Kim’s missiles are improving even as the Trump administration wrestles with how to get him back to the negotiating table.
Kim personally supervised the test of what experts believe was a short-range ballistic missile first displayed by North Korea at a military parade early last year, along with a drill involving 240 millimeter- and 300 millimeter-caliber multiple rocket launchers.
There remains some uncertainty over what was tested.
South Korea’s military reported that various “projectiles” flew from 70 to 240 kilometers (44 to 149 miles) before splashing harmlessly into the Pacific. The activity prompted the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan to tweet on its official account — in all capital letters — “MISSILE INBOUND.”
The tweet was soon followed by an all clear, and an “enjoy your Saturday.”
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