Report: N. Korean missile launch fails

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Wednesday apparently failed yet again to launch a powerful new Musudan midrange missile, U.S. and South Korean military officials said, its fifth such reported flop since April.

Despite the repeated failures, the North’s persistence in testing the Musudan worries Seoul, Tokyo and Washington because the missile’s potential 2,180-mile range puts U.S. military bases in Asia and the Pacific within its striking range.

Each new test also presumably provides valuable insights to North Korean 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.

A statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said a suspected Musudan launch failed but gave no further details on the earlymorning firing from near the east coast city of Wonsan.

A U.S. official also said the 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.

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 missile launch failure. South Korean officials didn’t identify the type of missile launched on June 1, but South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said it was also a Musudan.

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 linked to North Korean leader 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 repeated called for the resumption of talks with rival Seoul, but the South has rejected the overtures. It wants the North 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.