North Korea Launches Another Failed Ballistic Missile

North Korea attempted to launch a ballistic missile on Saturday, Reuters reported, but US and South Korean officials said the launch was a failure. This was the latest in a series of recent misfires for North Korea, whose increased belligerence has drawn the attention of the United Nations Security Council. The day before the test, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on the Council to begin a “new pressure campaign” on North Korea to try to force it to abandon its nuclear weapons program. “For too long, the international community has been reactive in addressing North Korea,” Tillerson said. “Those days must come to an end.” Tillerson called on the Security Council to “impose increased diplomatic and economic pressures on the North Korean regime” and “suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations” with Pyongyang. He warned of “catastrophic consequences” if North Korea succeeded in it nuclear ambitions. About 12 hours after the failed missile launch, the USS Carl Vinson strike group—positioned in the waters off the Korean peninsula—began exercises with the South Korean navy, according to Reuters.