FILE - In this March 14, 2017 file photo, a U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter approaches the deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during the annual joint military exercise called... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this March 14, 2017 file photo, a U.S. Navy's F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter approaches the deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during the annual joint military exercise called Foal Eagle between South Korea and the United States at an unidentified location in the international... (Associated Press) 
 
 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a newly developed powerful ballistic missile into its eastern waters Wednesday, U.S. and South Korean officials said, amid worries the North might conduct nuclear or long-range rocket tests ahead of the first summit between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week. 
 
 The initial U.S. and South Korean assessments indicated it was a KN-15 medium-range missile, whose first publicly known test in February was considered by many foreign experts as a potentially worrying development. It uses solid fuel already loaded inside the missile, which would shorten launch preparation times, boost the weapon's mobility and make it harder for outsiders to detect the signs of its liftoff. 
 
 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had said after the February launch that the missile, called "Pukguksong-2" in North Korea, provided another nuclear attack capability against the United States and South Korea. Most of North Korea's missiles use liquid propellant, which usually must be added on the launch pad before the weapon is fired. 
 
 The missile fired from land in the area of the eastern coastal city of Sinpo on Wednesday morning flew about 60 kilometers (37 miles), according to a South Korean military statement. The missile launched in February flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), but it wasn't immediately clear if the shorter distance meant Wednesday's launch was a failure. 
 
 North Korean state media said the "Pukguksong-2" missile is a surface-to-surface missile that can carry nuclear warheads. It is likely to be an upgraded version of the submarine-launched missile named "Pukguksong" launched last summer. Many South Korean experts say "Pukguksong-2" missile would be a greater security threat because it can be launched anywhere from a ground-based mobile vehicle. While submarines are also a stealthy way to do that, North Korea doesn't have enough of them. 
 
 Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS think tank in Honolulu, said he was expecting North Korea would do something to coincide with the Trump-Xi summit, perhaps conduct a nuclear test. The missile launch may be a precursor, with more to come as the summit starts later this week, Cossa said. 
 
 "I've joked before that they don't mind being hated but they definitely hate to be ignored," Cossa said. 
 
 Recent outside satellite imagery show possible preparations for a new atomic test at the North's main nuclear test site, such as the laying of communication cables used to initiate a test and collect data. North Korea's state media has also said the world will soon witness what it calls "eventful successes" the country achieves in the space development. Washington, Seoul and others call the North's space program a cover for its long-range missile development program. 
 
 South Korea's Foreign Ministry called the North's latest missile launch a "reckless provocation" that posed a threat to international peace, while Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the country lodged a strong protest over the launch. 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged the launch in a statement but said the U.S. had spoken enough about North Korea and would not comment further. 
 
 Analysts says North might time nuclear and long-range rocket tests to the April 15 birthday of North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the late grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 North Korea is pushing hard to upgrade its weapons systems to cope with what it calls U.S. hostility. Many weapons experts say the North could have a functioning nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. within a few years. North Korea carried out two nuclear tests last year. 
 
 The North's latest missile launch also came as it is responding annual military drills between the United States and South Korea with weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. North Korea sees the drills as an invasion rehearsal. 
 
 Two weeks ago, the South Korean and U.S. militaries said they had detected a failed North Korean ballistic missile launch. Earlier in March, North Korea fired four ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), with three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone. 
 
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 Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report. ||||| SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, ahead of a summit between U.S. and Chinese leaders who are set to discuss Pyongyang’s increasingly defiant arms program. 
 
 The missile flew about 60 km (40 miles) from its launch site at Sinpo, a port city on North Korea’s east coast, the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Sinpo is home to a North Korean submarine base. 
 
 The launch comes just a day before the start of a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where talks about adding pressure on the North to drop its arms development will take center stage. 
 
 “The launch took place possibly in consideration of the U.S. -China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability,” a South Korean official told Reuters about the military’s initial assessment of the launch. 
 
 The missile was fired at a high angle and reached an altitude of 189 km (117 miles), the official said. 
 
 U.S. officials said on Wednesday that the missile appeared to be a liquid-fueled, extended-range Scud missile which only traveled a fraction of its range. 
 
 Initially, U.S. and South Korean militaries said assessments indicated the latest launch was of a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile, which would have been the same kind North Korea test-launched in February. 
 
 “We are now certain it was a liquid-fueled Scud,” said a senior White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. 
 
 “It spun out of control after going only a fraction of its range,” the official said. 
 
 Any launch of objects using ballistic missile technology is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The North has defied the ban, saying it infringes on its sovereign rights to self-defense and the pursuit of space exploration. 
 
 The launch drew swift condemnation from Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying further provocative action was possible. 
 
 Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the launch as “extremely problematic” and said Tokyo had lodged a strong protest. 
 
 South Korea’s foreign ministry also condemned the launch as a blunt challenge to a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting North Korea’s nuclear and missile program. Seoul called a National Security Council meeting and vowed to respond strongly in case of further provocations. 
 
 In a terse statement, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: “The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.” 
 
 Trump wants China to do more to exert its economic influence over unpredictable Pyongyang to restrain its nuclear and missile programs. 
 
 China has denied it has any outsized influence on Pyongyang and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying ruled out the chance of a link between the launch and the summit, saying, “I can’t see any certain connection between these two things.” 
 
 Ahead of the U.S.-China summit in Florida, Trump had threatened to use crucial trade ties with China to pressure Beijing into more action on North Korea. 
 
 A senior U.S. White House official said Trump wanted to work with China and described the discussions over North Korea as a test for the U.S.-Chinese relationship. 
 
 ICBM THREAT 
 
 North Korea could choose to continue with missile-related activities through next week, when the isolated and impoverished country celebrates the 105th anniversary of the birth of the state’s founder, Kim Il Sung. 
 
 It has used the anniversary in previous years to test-fire the intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile and to launch long-range rockets to try to put satellites into orbit. 
 
 An expert on the North’s political strategy warned against reading too much political significance into the timing of the tests ahead of the U.S-China summit. 
 
 “They may have taken the summit into account to pick a day but, to me, it is more likely to catch up with its own missile development roadmap for their technical needs,” said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. 
 
 North Korea failed in an attempt to launch a ballistic missile from its east coast two weeks ago. Earlier in March, it fired four missiles toward Japan, some of which came as close as 300 km (190 miles) to the Japanese coast. 
 
 It has also conducted two nuclear weapons tests since January 2016, all in defiance of U.N. sanctions. 
 
 Pyongyang tested a new type of medium-to-long-range ballistic missile in February, which it later said was an upgraded, extended-range version of its submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). 
 
 FILE PHOTO: A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo 
 
 North Korea has carried out several SLBM tests near Sinpo. 
 
 The North is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could hit the United States, and its leader, Kim Jong Un, has vowed to test-launch one at any time. 
 
 Experts and officials in the South and the United States believe Pyongyang is still some time away from mastering all the technology needed for an operational ICBM system, such as re-entry into the atmosphere and subsequent missile guidance.
– North Korea may have just moved up the agenda at President Trump's first meeting with China's President Xi Jinping: In what is seen as a provocation ahead of the US-China summit later this week, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into the sea Wednesday morning in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, Reuters reports. US and South Korean officials believe the missile, like one fired in February, was a KN-15 medium-range missile, a type of missile more mobile, easier to launch, and harder to detect than other missiles in Pyongyang's arsenal, the AP reports. The one fired in February traveled 310 miles, but this one only flew around 37 miles, suggesting the test may not have been a complete success. North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons program was already expected to be a main focus of the talks between Xi and Trump, who recently said the US can deal with the problem alone if China is unwilling to help. "The launch took place possibly in consideration of the US-China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability," a South Korean official tells Reuters. Japan condemned the latest launch as "extremely problematic," while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment." (This week, a North Korean defector had an ominous warning about Kim Jong Un's state of mind.)