After North Korea launches new ballistic missile, Trump says Pyongyang has 'shown great disrespect' to China

North Korea fires Scud-type missile
(Image credit: Kim Won-Jin/AFP/Getty Images)

North Korea continued a series of controversial weapons tests on Monday with the launch of at least one short-range ballistic missile. The apparent Scud-class ballistic missile flew about 280 miles before coming down in the sea in Japan's economic zone, South Korean officials said. The launch came after two successful tests of North Korean mid- and long-range missiles in the last two weeks. President Trump responded on Twitter that "North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile ... but China is trying hard!"

North Korea's refusal to curb its missile and nuclear weapons programs in defiance of United Nations resolutions and international sanctions has ratcheted up tensions with the U.S. and other nations. The U.S. on Tuesday plans to conduct its first test of a missile defense system intended to intercept ICBMs.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.