Story highlights Pence's trip is not just a big responsibility at a critical time -- it is also an emotional trip personally for him

His father served in the Korean War

(CNN) It wasn't even an hour after we took off for South Korea on Air Force Two after a refueling stop in Alaska that a few of the vice president's aides came back to the press cabin to tell us what was probably inevitable: North Korea had just unsuccessfully tried to test a missile.

The press does not have Internet access on Air Force Two (which is secretly kind of liberating), so we didn't know, but of course the VP and his team have high-tech, secure communications capability. Pence was notified right away about the test, that it failed after four or five seconds, and, most importantly, it was not believed to be a nuclear test or an ICBM.

A White House foreign policy adviser on board immediately tried to downplay the significance, making clear it wasn't a matter of if, but when, the North Koreans would try to flex their military might again. Still, it was a reminder that we were 30,000 feet in the air heading toward a Korean Peninsula that is even more tense than usual.

As for the vice president himself, this first trip to South Korea is not just a big responsibility at a critical time -- it is also an emotional trip personally for him.

We learned on his plane coming over that Pence's father, 2nd Lt. Edward J. Pence, Jr., served in the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star for his service. In fact, Pence has the medal framed in his White House office.

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