“We hope all parties can strictly respect the decisions of the Security Council and avoid taking any steps that could further worsen tensions.” 
 
 In 2012, Kim Il Sung’s birthday was also marked by an attempted long-range rocket launch, which also failed.  SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea attempted and failed to launch what experts believe was an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Friday in defiance of U.N. sanctions and in an embarrassing setback for leader Kim Jong Un, drawing criticism from major ally China. The U.S.-based 38 North website, which specializes in North Korea, said there has been activity at the country’s nuclear site based on satellite imagery and on Wednesday said the possibility of a fifth nuclear test “could not be ruled out.” 
 
 U.S. officials said the missile tested on Friday never got off the launch pad but further tests were expected. “We know that this is a capability that they are aiming towards,” he said. The Musudan is an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of traveling 1,500 to 2,500 miles — putting the U.S. territory of Guam within reach — and of carrying a 1.3-ton nuclear warhead, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative. The test, on North Korea’s so-called “Day of the Sun,” followed its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which led to new U.N. sanctions that have failed to halt Pyongyang’s weapons programs. North Korea is “seeking to develop longer-range ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the United States and continues efforts to bring [a road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile] to operational capacity,” he said. “It was not successful.” 
 
 Davis said the U.S. military thought the device was a road-mobile missile because the launch occurred at a coastal site where Pyongyang ordinarily does not test rockets. China’s official Xinhua News Agency said North Korea’s failed firing of a mid-range ballistic missile Friday was “the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere.” 
 
 Since Kim Jong Un ordered his military to conduct a fourth nuclear test in January — which North Korea claimed was a hydrogen-bomb explosion, although outside experts are highly skeptical — there has been a steady stream of projectiles emanating from North Korea. The international community has responded to North Korea’s latest provocations with tough sanctions aimed at cutting off the state’s ability to procure parts and finance its weapons-of-mass-destruction program. North Korea is to hold a congress of its ruling Workers Party - the first such meeting in 36 years - in early May, at which Kim Jong Un is likely to trumpet his achievements in building up Pyongyang’s weapons prowess.
– North Korea's "Day of the Sun" became the "Day of the Flop" after an attempt to mark its founder's birthday with a missile launch fizzled, according to South Korean officials. An official from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the missile launch from the country's east coast early Friday deviated from a normal trajectory, the Washington Post reports. An American military official says the US also detected and tracked the failed launch, which took place on the most important day in Pyongyang's calendar, the birthday of Kim Il Sung. Officials suspect the missile was a Musudan intermediate-range missile, also known as a BM-25, which Pyongyang has displayed in military parades but never tested before. The country fired a different kind of medium-range missile into the sea last month. Even North Korea's closest ally denounced the latest launch attempt, reports Reuters. The launch, "though failed, marks the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere," China's Xinhua news agency said. "Nuclear weapons will not make Pyongyang safer. On the contrary, its costly military endeavors will keep on suffocating its economy." (Seoul is getting some vital information from a high-level defector.)