“The failed launch shows North Korea’s launch capability isn’t perfect, so Kim Jong Un might fire a Musudan again or any other missile soon given his temper,” Yoo Dong Ryul, President of Korea Institute of Liberal Democracy in Seoul, said by phone. That test was hailed by leader Kim Jong Un as proof of the North’s ability to strike U.S. bases across “the Pacific operation theater.”

Saturday’s failed launch was detected at 12:03 Pyongyang time Saturday from the northwestern North Korean town of Kusong. The U.S. military first reported the launch was attempted at 11:33 p.m. EDT Friday (12:03 p.m. Saturday local time) and that the missile didn’t pose a threat to North America. Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross strongly condemned the missile test and stressed the U.S. commitment to defending allies South Korea and Japan is “ironclad.”

“This provocation only serves to increase the international community’s resolve to counter the DPRK’s prohibited activities,” he said, using the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He said the U.S. would raise concerns at the U.N.

“Our commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, is ironclad,” Ross said.
The United States Defense Department reports its Strategic Command systems detected a failed North Korean ballistic missile launch near the city of Kusong in North Pyongan Province.