Pentagon: North Korean missile test fails

7/6/2006

Despite ongoing talks to convince North Korea to give up its nuclear programme, the
isolationist country staged a series of missile tests that began at 3:30 am local time (2:30
pm ET) and lasted for five hours. The Taepodong 2 missile (a variant of the Soviet-era Scud)
failed 40 seconds into its launch, officials reported.

The US, Japan and the UN strongly condemned the tests, which they say violated a
commitment on the part of Pyongyang to a long-standing moratorium on missile tests. The
moratorium went into effect after the failed launch of Taepodong 1 missile over Japan in
1998.