North Korean missile test fails

The BBC has an article about saber-rattling by the North Koreans:

North Korea conducted a missile test off its east coast on Friday morning, but the launch appears to have failed, say American and South Korean officials. The rocket has not yet been identified, but is suspected to have been a previously untested Musudan medium-range ballistic missile.
The launch coincided with the birthday of North Korea's late founding leader, Kim Il-sung. It also comes amid particularly high tension on the Korean peninsula.
A satellite image released by DigitalGlobe shows the Musudan-ri launch pad and assembly building in at the North Korean missile facility at Musudan-Ri, in southern North Hamgyong Province, North Korea on Sunday 29 March 2009. The missile is named after the Musudan village in the northeast, where a launchpad is sited.
South Korea's Yonhap national news agency quoted government sources as saying that the missile was a type of intermediate-range ballistic missile known as a Musudan, also called the BM-25. North Korean forces were seen recently moving two such missiles.
The report said it would be the North's first Musudan test, and that North Korea may have at least fifty more. It has a range of about three thousand kilometers, which extends to the American Army base on Guam, but not as far as the mainland US.
The US said it had tracked the latest launch, but could also not confirm details. "We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region, and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations," a State Department official said.
China also criticized what it called "the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere," according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The BBC's Stephen Evans in Seoul says that, even though it failed, the test illustrates the determination of current leader Kim Jong-un to get the ability to strike the United States, but also the North's technological limitations.
The North has made a series of threats against the South and the US since the UN imposed some of its toughest-ever sanctions on the country. The move was a response to the North's fourth nuclear test in January and its launching of a satellite in February, both of which broke existing sanctions. The North has also been angered by South Korea and the US conducting their largest ever joint military exercises, which wrap up next week.
In March, North Korea said it had developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles. However, experts cast doubt on the claims.
The birthday of North Korea's founder, Kim's grandfather, is significant. Four years ago, the North tried to celebrate it with a similar missile launch, but that, too, failed. 

February 2016: Launch of rocket, reportedly carrying satellite
May 2015: North Korea announced it has successfully tested a submarine-launched missile for the first time, but scepticism continues
December 2012: North Korea launches three-stage rocket, says it successfully put a satellite into orbit; American defense officials confirm object in orbit
April 2012: Three-stage rocket explodes just after take-off and fell into the sea
April 2009: Three-stage rocket launched; North Korea says it was a success, US says it failed and fell into the sea
July 2006: North Korea test-fires a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, but the US said it failed shortly after take-off

Rico says sometimes the magic works, sometimes it (fortunately) doesn't...