SEOUL: North Korea on Thursday made two failed bids to test fire a powerful, new medium-range ballistic missile, in a thwarted display of military strength ahead of a landmark ruling party congress.

South Korea’s defence ministry said an initial morning launch of what was understood to be a Musudan missile saw the rocket plunge back to earth seconds after take-off.

A second attempt in the evening — again of a Musudan — also appeared to have failed, a ministry official said.

North Korea has now made three unsuccessful bids in two weeks to test-fly a Musudan, which is capable of striking US bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

The first effort on April 15 — the birthday of founding leader Kim Il-Sung — ended in what the Pentagon described as “fiery, catastrophic” failure, with the missile apparently exploding just after take-off.

South Korean military officials say the North is desperate to register a successful launch ahead of next week’s party congress, at which leader Kim Jong-Un is expected to take credit for pushing the country’s nuclear weapons programme to new heights.There is growing concern that Pyongyang is also preparing to conduct a fifth nuclear test before the party gathering begins on May 6.

In recent months the North has claimed a series of major technical breakthroughs in developing what it sees as the ultimate goal of its nuclear drive — an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to targets across the continental United States.

The achievements trumpeted by Pyongyang have included miniaturising a nuclear warhead to fit on a missile, developing a warhead that can withstand atmospheric re-entry and building a solid-fuel missile engine.

Last Saturday, it successfully tested a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) and was promptly criticised by the UN Security Council.

Existing UN resolutions forbid North Korea from the use of any ballistic missile-related technology, and South Korea said it would push for fresh penalties to be imposed on Pyongyang.

“The government strongly condemns this additional ballistic missile launch... which is a clear violation of UN resolutions and an act of provocation,” the foreign ministry in Seoul said after the failed Musudan test on Thursday morning.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2016