--- description: Analysis by U.S. and South Korean military suggests that a Musudan mid-range missile exploded shortly after launch Thursday morning. title: North Korea May Have Conducted Another Failed Missile Test image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fd1a3a90bdbb7b7/6988aacc524fc09aebdf9e9e/gettyimages-608671914.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 Appears to Have Conducted Another Failed Missile Test by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 4:08 AM CUT by [Kevin Lui](/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 20, 2016 4:08 AM CUT North Korea appears to have conducted yet another test launch of a medium-range missile that ended in failure, according to South Korean and U.S. military. Citing a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, _Agence France-Presse_ [reported](http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/north-korea-fails-again-with-powerful-musudan-missile-test/3220898.html "undefined") that a Musudan mid-range missile was launched early Thursday morning local time. Military analysis suggested that the missile exploded shortly after launch. The South Korean military “strongly condemns North Korea’s continued illegal provocative actions and are fully prepared for the possibilities of further provocation” in their statement, reports AFP. U.S. Strategic Command said that the launch took place in the city of Kusong in the northwest part of the country, [according to](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-missiles-idUSKCN12K052?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm%5Fsource=twitter&utm%5Fmedium=Social "undefined") Reuters. The Musudan ballistic missile is believed to have a range between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers, reports AFP, capable of reaching U.S. military operations on Guam if operational. The report notes that only one out of the eight known tests conducted on the missile has been successful so far. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/"},"headline":"North Korea Appears to Have Conducted Another Failed Missile Test","datePublished":"2016-10-20T04:08:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:57:03.573Z","description":"Military analysis suggests the missile exploded shortly after launch","url":"https://time.com/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/","keywords":["North Korea","Defense"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fd1a3a90bdbb7b7/6988aacc524fc09aebdf9e9e/gettyimages-608671914.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5fd1a3a90bdbb7b7/6988aacc524fc09aebdf9e9e/gettyimages-608671914.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SKOREA-NKOREA-MISSILE-NUCLEAR-TEST","caption":"SKOREA-NKOREA-MISSILE-NUCLEAR-TEST","creditText":"JUNG YEON-JE—AFP/Getty Images","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/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/","name":"North Korea Appears to Have Conducted Another Failed Missile Test"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Military analysis suggests the missile exploded shortly after launch","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/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4537864/north-korea-us-stratcom-missile-test-failure/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```