N. Korea’s 4th Musudan missile launch ends in failure

“North Korea attempted to launch an unidentified missile from Wonsan, Gangwon Province, at around 5:20 a.m., but it is presumed to have been unsuccessful,” the JCS said in a brief text message. The military is studying the details of the launch and is maintaining a high level of combat preparedness, the JCS said. Official sources said the launched missile was a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM). The sources said the missile may have exploded on the mobile launcher immediately after the fire button was pushed. They said the explosion is presumed to have inflicted serious injuries on personnel in the immediate vicinity.

The latest launch marks Pyongyang’s fourth failed attempt to launch its Musudan mid-range ballistic missiles in two months. North Korea has deployed about 50 Musudan missiles with its forces since 2007, but none of them had been test-fired until this year. The back-to-back launch failures stoked skepticism on the reliability of North Korea’s Musudan missiles.

Oh my.