N Korean missile 'blows up' on Sunday's test launch

Seoul

A NORTH Korean missile "blew up almost immediately" on its test launch on Sunday, the US Pacific Command said, hours before US Vice-President Mike Pence was due in the South for talks on the North's increasingly defiant arms programme.

The failed launch from the east coast came a day after North Korea held a military parade in its capital, marking the birth anniversary of the state founder, in which what appeared to be new long-range ballistic missiles were on display.