Officials said Taepo Dong was meant to contain a nuclear warhead. They
said North Korea has marketed the missile to Iran and Syria.
Michael Green, a former official at the National Security Council, said
despite the setback North Korea has not abandoned the Taepo Dong-2 program.
Green said the failure of Taepo Dong-2 has not hampered Pyongyang's sale of
other missiles, such as the No-Dong and the Scud D missiles.
"When you look at their more conventional missiles, some of it say they
are crude technology but they are effective systems," DeTrani said. "They
can deliver warheads. These are systems that N. Korea sell with impunity
overseas."
On May 31, North Korea was reported to have fired three short-range
missiles during a military exercise. South Korea's Yonhap news agency said
the missiles were fired into the Yellow Sea about 40 kilometers west of
Pyongyang.
"The missile launch, like the test-firing conducted on March 28, is part
of normal military training aimed at testing the performance of the missiles
and improving operational readiness," Yonhap quoted a source as saying.
