2nd LD Writethru: DPRK's Musudan ballistic missile launch appears to fail: S.Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has test-fired a projectile, believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan ballistic missile, but it appeared to have failed, local media reported on Thursday.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) was quoted as saying that the DPRK launched what is believed to be a Musudan missile at about 7 a.m. local time (2200 GMT on Wednesday) near an airport in the country's northwestern North Pyongan province.

The launch appeared to have failed, the JCS said without elaborating further.

The failed launch came less than a week after the DPRK test-launched a Musudan missile from the same place last Saturday. The Oct. 16 launch ended in failure as the missile exploded soon after its liftoff.

Pyongyang has test-fired Musudan missiles eight times since April 15. Except for the June 22 success at which the missile flew as high as 1,413.6 km and traveled about 400 km, all of other launches failed.

The DPRK is widely expected to attempt another launch of a Musudan missile as the last two tests failed.

The JCS was quoted as saying Thursday's launch of the Musudan missile is believed to have been conducted to offset the failed launch on Oct. 15.

Seoul's military strongly condemned the DPRK's continued provocations, saying it is thoroughly preparing for further provocations from the country. Endit