--- description: South Korean officials reported two failed launches on Thursday title: North Korea Has Now Had 3 Failed Missile Launches in 2 Weeks image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt464af0c5e3822e7d/6988911fa988ca82a56b7a45/north-korea-failed-missle-launch.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Korea Has Now Had 3 Failed Missile Launches in 2 Weeks  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 6:11 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 28, 2016 6:11 PM CUT South Korean officials said North Korea had two midrange missile tests [fail on Thursday](http://time.com/4310673/north-korea-missile-launch-failure-south-korea/ "undefined"), bringing the [total suspected misfires](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c571f61732e744bcafaea3696b31996a/south-korea-suspected-midrange-north-korean-missile-crashes "undefined") to three over the past two weeks. Defense officials in South Korea said they believe North Korea [has been testing](http://time.com/4278800/north-korea-nuclear-u-s-china-cooperation/ "undefined") its new Musudan missiles, which could theoretically reach the United States if development continues. The launches are obvious failures in the week before Kim Jong Un holds a leading party meeting, the AP reports. South Korea also [reported a failed test on April 14](http://time.com/4295429/north-korea-launch-missile-failed/ "undefined"), but could not confirm the type of missile tested then. Thursday’s first launch attempt took place in the morning, but the rocket crashed seconds later. Then in the evening, South Korean officials said another test failed near the South’s city of Wonsan. NORAD confirmed both launches. \[[AP](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/c571f61732e744bcafaea3696b31996a/south-korea-suspected-midrange-north-korean-missile-crashes "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/"},"headline":"North Korea Has Now Had 3 Failed Missile Launches in 2 Weeks","datePublished":"2016-04-28T18:11:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:07.355Z","description":"South Korean officials reported two failed launches on Thursday","url":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/","keywords":["Military","North Korea"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt464af0c5e3822e7d/6988911fa988ca82a56b7a45/north-korea-failed-missle-launch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt464af0c5e3822e7d/6988911fa988ca82a56b7a45/north-korea-failed-missle-launch.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"South Korea Korean Tensions","caption":"A man watches a TV news program showing a file footage of North Korea's failed rocket launch at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, April 28, 2016.","creditText":"Ahn Young-joon—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/","name":"North Korea Has Now Had 3 Failed Missile Launches in 2 Weeks"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"South Korean officials reported two failed launches on Thursday","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4311469/north-korea-missile-nuke-fail/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```