North Korea reportedly readies another missile test launch

SEOUL/WASHINGTON — North Korea appears to be preparing a test-launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Tuesday, after what the United States described as the "fiery, catastrophic" failure of the first attempt.

Separately, President Barack Obama said the United States is working on defending itself and its allies against potential threats from what he called an "erratic" country with an "irresponsible" leader.

On April 15, the North failed to launch what was likely a Musudan missile, with a range of more than 3,000km, meaning it could, if launched successfully, hit Japan and also theoretically put the US territory of Guam within range.

The Musudan missile, which can be fired from a mobile launcher, is not known to have been successfully flight-tested.

In a CBS interview that aired on Tuesday, Obama said the United States "is spending a lot more time positioning our missile development systems, so that even as we try to resolve the underlying problem of nuclear development inside of North Korea, we're also setting up a shield that can at least block the relatively low-level threats that they're posing now".

North Korea tested its fourth nuclear bomb on January 6 and launched a long-range rocket on February 7, both in defiance of UN resolutions. On Saturday, the North conducted a test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

"There are indications that the North may fire a Musudan missile that it launched and failed on Kim Il Sung's birthday on April 15," Yonhap quoted an unnamed government official as saying. Kim Il Sung is the North's founder.

North Korea needs a "powerful nuclear deterrence" to counter US hostility and threats, North Korea's foreign ministry was quoted by the state news agency KCNA as saying on Tuesday.

"The US continued pursuance of extreme hostile policy and nuclear threat and blackmail against the DPRK will only make the latter make drastic progress in bolstering nuclear attack capabilities," KCNA quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.

North and South Korea remain technically at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, rather than a treaty. The North, whose lone major ally is neighbour China, routinely threatens to destroy South Korea and its major ally, the United States.

Obama said there "was no easy solution" to the North Korean threat, adding that while the United States "could destroy North Korea with our arsenals" there would not only be humanitarian costs but also a potential impact on South Korea.