This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A North Korea missile launch meant to celebrate the birthday of the country’s founder ended in failure, US defense officials said on Friday, an embarrassing setback in what was reportedly the inaugural test of a new, powerful mid-range missile.

“It was a fiery, catastrophic attempt at a launch that was unsuccessful,” said Capt Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. He said US officials are still assessing, but it was probably a road-mobile missile, given that it was launched from a location not usually used for ballistic missile launches, on the country’s east coast.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency carried an unsourced report that a Musudan missile, which could one day be capable of reaching far-off US military bases in Asia and the Pacific, exploded in the air a few seconds after liftoff.

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters told the Associated Press that it appeared to be a Musudan missile but no definitive conclusion had been reached.

Despite the failure, the North has another Musudan loaded on a mobile launcher and Pyongyang will probably fire it, according to South Korean and US authorities, Yonhap reported.

The US defense secretary, Ash Carter, speaking to reporters during a stop on the USS John C Stennis aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, said that while the US deemed the launch to be unsuccessful, it “was nonetheless another provocation by North Korea in a region that doesn’t need that kind of behavior”.

The launch comes as the two Koreas trade threats amid Pyongyang’s anger over annual South Korean-US military drills that North Korea calls a rehearsal for an invasion. The North has recently fired a slew of missiles and artillery shells into the sea in an apparent protest against the drills.

North Korean rhetoric has reached new heights – and the world is losing patience | Aidan Foster-Carter Read more

The surge in belligerent rhetoric and nuclear and missile activity in the North may also be linked to leader Kim Jong-un’s preparations for a major ruling party meeting next month that analysts believe he will use to further solidify his autocratic rule. Some believe that Kim may try to use the country’s claims of recent nuclear and missile success as a way to turn domestic focus toward tackling the country’s abysmal economy.

A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official wasn’t authorized to comment publicly, said the US Strategic Command systems have detected and tracked what officials assessed as a failed North Korean missile launch.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile test in violation of UN security council resolutions, which explicitly prohibit North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology,” the official said.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said the missile launched from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America.

The South’s defense ministry said it was not immediately known whether the missile was a short-range or mid-range missile.

The North’s launch came amid speculation in the South that its rival was preparing to test a medium-range missile with a range of 3,500km (2,180 miles) – enough to reach US military installations in Japan and Guam. Foreign experts have nicknamed the missile Musudan after the village in the north-east where North Korea has a launchpad.

North Korea has never flight-tested a Musudan, though it unveiled the missile during a 2010 military parade. South Korean defense officials said North Korea has deployed Musudan missiles since 2007.

Friday is the birthday of the late Kim Il-sung, the current leader’s grandfather and the nation’s founder. North Korea has occasionally used such celebrations to stage nuclear or missile tests that outsiders consider provocations.

In the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, citizens in formal clothing lined up to bow deeply before huge statues of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, his son and the father of Kim Jong-un, and laid brightly colored flowers at the statues’ feet.

North Korea has unnerved the international community this year with an escalating campaign of belligerence. This includes a nuclear test in January, its fourth, and a long-range rocket launch in February, as well as nuclear threats against the United States and Seoul.

There is debate among analysts about the exact state of the North’s nuclear capabilities – many believe Pyongyang has a handful of crude nuclear bombs – but each nuclear and missile test pushes them farther along in their goal of a nuclear-armed arsenal of long-range missiles.