U.S.: North Korea missile launch fails, again

                                                The communist nation is isolated but has some impressive firepower. USA TODAY

North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday, but it immediately failed, the U.S. Strategic Command said, according to South Korea's Yonhap News agency.

The U.S. Strategic Command said in a statement it had detected at 7 a.m. (Korean time) a failed attempt by North Korea to launch what it thought to be an intermediate-range missile near the northwestern city of Kusong.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, said the U.S. “strongly condemns” the failed launch and said the government intends to raise concerns at the United Nations "to bolster international resolve in holding the DPRK accountable for these actions," according to CBS News.

Japan's chief government spokesman also condemned the provocation.

"The Japanese government is protesting to North Korea through our embassy in Beijing, while condemning it strongly," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference, Reuters reported.

The U.S. and South Korea said Saturday that North Korea had failed to launch a missile.