North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile in a Show of Force After Putin’s Visit

  • Launch comes about a week after Putin visited Pyongyang
  • Pyongyang denounced US for sending aircraft carrier to region

A portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin near national flags of North Korea and Russia in Pyongyang on June 20.

Photographer: Kim Won Jin/AFP/Getty Images
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North Korea fired a ballistic missile that failed soon into flight, in an attempted show of force about a week after it struck a military mutual-defense pact with Russia that alarmed the US and its allies.

The missile was launched at about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday from an area near Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message sent to reporters. An analysis was being done by South Korean and US intelligence authorities to find out more details, it said.