North Korea fires ballistic missile after US push for new sanctions

Trump's administration has delivered a drumbeat of warnings about the dangers of North Korea this week, using presidential statements, an unusual White House briefing for the Senate, and a White House lunch for United Nations ambassadors to underscore that Pyongyang is a priority.

Some analysts say a missile the North test fired April 5, which US officials identified as a Scud variant, also might have been a KN-17.

Trump cast the launch as a direct snub of China, one of North Korea's only allies and a nation seen by the Trump administration as a potential United States ally in efforts to stamp out Pyongyang's nuclear program.

South Korea has warned if the global community does not respond to the North's repeated provocations now, "we will only further feed the appetite of the trigger-happy regime in Pyongyang".

Another missile has been test-fired from North Korea as tensions between the east-Asian country and the U.S. rise.

President Donald Trump appeared to give Kim Jong Un credit for leading North Korea after his father's death, calling him a "pretty smart cookie".

Mr Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson toward the region, and the US and South Korea also started installing a missile defence system that is supposed to be partially operational within days.

But condemnations and sanctions resolutions since 2006, when North Korea conducted its first nuclear test, have done little to impede its push for ballistic missiles and nuclear arms.

Trump had said the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system now being deployed in South Korea to defend against a potential missile attack from North Korea would cost about $1 billion and questioned why the United States was paying for it.

China is seen as a powerful and important player in the region - North Korea's neighbour, it acts as a conduit for 90% of the country's commerce. "I think they were ready for a (nuclear) test and building up pressure for a tough response but then (it didn't happen)", John Delury, associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul, told CNN.

USA secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned on Friday, April 28, that failure to curb North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes could lead to 'catastrophic consequences, ' while China and Russian Federation rebuked Washington's threat of military force.

The UN Security Council is likely to start discussing a statement to condemn the missile launch, said diplomats.

A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said. The council has strengthened sanctions following each of North Korea's five nuclear tests.

China remains one of North Korea's only allies and is responsible for much of the heavily-sanctioned nation's economy.

'The UK calls on Russian Federation and China, and other member states, to use whatever influence they possess to restrain North Korea and guide its leaders towards a peaceful settlement'. Some of those missiles reached the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

But UN sanctions experts have repeatedly told the council the measures have had little impact because they have been poorly implemented.

The timing of the North's test was striking: Only hours earlier the U.N. Security Council held a ministerial meeting on Pyongyang's escalating weapons program.

Uruguay's UN Ambassador Elbio Rosselli, who sits on the UN Security Council, condemned the missile test as "very disgraceful" and "against worldwide law and humanity".

"In South Korea, the latest quotes when President Trump talks about (a war) would be 'turmoil and death.' I mean, who's dying in that scenario?" "That would be the only way it can save itself, instead of taking the path of destruction".