However some remains were accidentally excavated by US teams searching for their own dead under a now-defunct agreement with North Korea.
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The two failed launches represent the country’s first-ever test-firing of these longer range missiles. USA officials said that launch ended in failure.
Forensic investigators in Hawaii determined the remains were not American and later confirmed they were South Korean, officials said, adding they were still working to identify individuals.
The first test-launch also failed as the missile exploded in mid-air.
The Yonhap news agency quoted a military official, as saying, “The missile, presumed to be a Musudan, was sacked around 6.40 a.m. (local time) from the vicinity of Wonsan, but it appears to have crashed a few seconds later”.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting to discuss North Korea’s latest missile launches, diplomatic sources said Thursday.
The spokesman also called on countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to unite to cope with the high-handed and arbitrary practices by the United States. Both the USA and South Korea are investigating the exact cause of the crash. “It is highly likely that the launch failed”. This meant it didn’t have time to fix its angle and enter orbit.
The Musudan is believed to have an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres.
Joint U.S.-North Korea teams conducted about three dozen recovery operations between 1996 and 2005, but they were stopped after Washington expressed safety concerns.
South Korean soldiers then collected the 15 boxes draped with their nation’s flag from a long table and carried them to a white bus decorated with a yellow wreath.
These two consecutive failed tests indicate that North Korea’s missile program is less complete than many had thought, according to military experts.
Since the North Koreans’ group defection to South Korea took place on April seventh, Pyongyang has only mentioned the incident through news media for audiences outside the country and has remained silent on media channels viewed by its domestic audience. Harsher sanctions were introduced in March following a fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range missile test in February.
The South Korean soldiers’ remains were recovered by teams with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency operating in North Korea in 2000-04.
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At the time, President Barack Obama said it was clear “that North Korea continues to engage in continuous provocative behavior”. Some academics argue that economic sanctions only hurt the poor, as they have had little effect on curbing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
