North Korea Test-Fires Ballistic Missile

Defiant North Korea launched another missile test today just hours after stern warnings from Donald Trump that a "major, major conflict" was possible.

US military said Pyongyang launched a ballistic missile that blew up over land, failing to clear the hermit nation's own territory. The launch was just hours after the publication of comments by the US President that conflict between the west and Pyongyang may be more likely.

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview.

"We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult."

Following the Pyongyang launch, Trump tweeted: "North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!" He did not answer reporters' questions about the missile launch upon returning to the White House from a day trip to Atlanta. Reports in the US quoted officials saying the test-fire was probably a medium-range ballistic missile called a KN-17, a land based solid-fuel fired from a mobile launcher. Military analyst John Kirby said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was sending another message to the US and it allies including Australia, which it has threatened with nuclear attack. "This is Kim giving us the finger. Giving China the finger. Giving the UN the finger. I think timing is absolutely planned and preordained in his mind," he said. The US military has moved an aircraft carrier strike group into the region, docked a powerful nuclear submarine in South Korea and staged large military drills with South Korea and Japan. Before the launch, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday in New York called for new economic sanctions on North Korea and other "painful" measures over its nuclear weapons program, warning military action was an option. "Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences," Tillerson told the UN Security."The more we bide our time, the sooner we will run out of it."