North Korea hit by its own missile

The incident occurred when North Korea conducted an unsuccessful missile test on April 28, 2017.

The Tokyo-based international news magazine The Diplomat, citing US government sources with knowledge of North Korea's weapons program, reported that the Hwasong-12/KN17 intermediate-range ballistic missile launched from Pukchang Airport in South Pyongan Province failed minutes after launch and fell into Chongsin-dong, Tokchon City, causing significant damage to an industrial complex or agricultural buildings.

The US government source said that the rocket's engine failed about a minute after launch, leading to the disaster. The missile could not fly more than 70 km.

Since the missile only used a small amount of liquid fuel, it is likely that the Tokchon building would have suffered a large explosion on impact. However, since the explosion occurred outside of business hours, the possibility of casualties on the ground is very low.

Evidence of the incident was independently verified by The Diplomat using commercial satellite imagery from April-May 2017.

In April 2017, most reports about the launch were sparse, saying only that North Korea had just test-fired a missile, but it was unsuccessful.

The US Pacific Command also confirmed that a missile was launched near Pukchang airfield, which has never been used as a missile test site by North Korea before.