The Musudan intermediate range ballistic missile. Four of these missiles have failed in test launches over the past two months.
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On Wednesday, the state media of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) broadcast video of leader Kim Jong Un watching what appears to have been a successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile. However, the launch actually took place in April. The footage was broadcast now, according to analysts, likely as an attempt to demonstrate North Korea's nuclear threat as a senior DPRK official meets with China this week. The broadcast may also be an attempt to draw attention away from a string of failed launches of North Korea's Musudan intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM).
The video was broadcast just after analyst reports said North Korea had made a fourth failed attempt in two months to test-launch the Musudan—a missile designed to strike at targets as distant as Guam and the Philippines. The missile exploded on launch. Earlier on April 15, North Korea's military attempted a launch from a mobile launching system, but it exploded shortly after liftoff. Just two weeks later, as North Korea was preparing for the congress of the Worker's Party, there was an attempt at a dual launch—with both missiles crashing into the sea.
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