North Korea fires two missiles, at least one fails

In a remarkable show of persistence, North Korea on Wednesday fired two suspected powerful new Musudan mid-range missiles, U.S. and South Korean military officials said, but at least one of the launches apparently failed, Pyongyang’s fifth such reported flop since April.

Despite the repeated failures, the North’s determination in testing the Musudan worries Washington and its allies, Tokyo and Seoul, because the missile’s potential 3,500-kilometer (2,180-mile) range could target much of Asia and the Pacific, including U.S. military bases there.

Each new test — apparently linked to a command from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — also likely provides valuable insights to the North’s scientists and military officials as they push toward their goal of a nuclear and missile program that can threaten the U.S. mainland. Pyongyang earlier this year conducted a nuclear test and launched a long-range rocket that outsiders say was a cover for a test of banned missile technology.

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A statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a suspected first Musudan launch from the east coast city of Wonsan failed early Wednesday morning but gave few other details. Later Wednesday, the JCS said theNorth fired another suspected Musudan, but it wasn’t immediately clear if it succeeded.

A U.S. official also said the first launch appeared to be another failure, adding that the U.S. was assessing exactly what had happened. The official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity. Another American official said the first launch was a suspected Musudan but initial indications were that it failed in flight over the Sea of Japan, which the Koreas call the East Sea.

The United States had no immediate details on the reported second launch.

In April, North Korea attempted unsuccessfully to launch three suspected Musudan missiles, but all exploded in midair or crashed, according to South Korean defense officials. Earlier this month, North Korea had another suspected Musudan failure, South Korean officials said.

Before April’s launches, North Korea had never flight-tested a Musudan missile, although one was displayed during a military parade in 2010 in Pyongyang, its capital.

The launches appear to stem from Kim Jong Un’s order in March for more nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The order was an apparent response to springtime U.S.-South Korean military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.

Since the end of those military drills, Pyongyang has repeatedly called for the resumption of talks with rival Seoul, even as it pursues new missile development, but the South has rejected the overtures. It wants theNorth to first take steps toward nuclear disarmament. Pyongyang says its rivals must negotiate with it as an established nuclear power, something Washington and Seoul refuse to do.

The string of recent launch attempts show the North is pushing hard to upgrade its missile capability in defiance of U.S.-led international pressure. The North was slapped with the strongest U.N. sanctions in two decades after it conducted a fourth nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch earlier this year.

Earlier Tuesday, at a Washington briefing, Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that if North Korea were to conduct another missile test, it would violate U.N. resolutions and “be another provocative action. So we certainly would urge North Korea to refrain from doing that sort of thing.”

North Korea has recently claimed a series of breakthroughs in its push to build a long-range nuclear missile that can strike the American mainland. But South Korean officials have said the North doesn’t yet possess such a weapon.

The North, however, has already deployed a variety of missiles that can reach most targets in South Koreaand Japan, including American military bases in the countries.

The Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 U.S. soldiers are stationed in South Korea to deter possible aggression from North Korea; tens of thousands more are stationed in Japan.

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UPDATES:

5:37 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details on the second launch, and background on North Korea’s nuclear program.

This article was originally published at 5:19 p.m.