Kim Jong Un's Ballistic Missile Test Fails—South Korea

A missile launched by Kim Jong Un's North Korea failed on Wednesday, the South Korean government has said.

The ballistic missile was fired from the Sunan district of Pyongyang at 11:05 p.m toward the Sea of Japan, which the two Koreas call the East Sea, but was ultimately unsuccessful, according to Seoul.

South Korea and U.S. intelligence agencies were examining the reasons behind the failed launch, the Reuters news agency said.

Pyongyang conducted a record 68 missile tests last year, or some 214 launches since 2012. The latest occurred hours after Seoul announced it would resume front-line aerial surveillance in response to the North's satellite launch on Tuesday.

The North Korean state newspaper Chongnyon Chongwi said Kim, the country's 39-year-old supreme leader, was present at the launch center as its National Aerospace Technology Administration put the Malligyong-1 spy satellite into orbit.

The surveillance asset—Pyongyang's first in space—was expected to monitor troop movements in the South as well as the activities of U.S. Forces Korea, battalions of American forces stationed there since the Cold War.

The North's recent missile activity has heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Neither the United States, Japan or South Korean governments have confirmed the successful deployment of Kim's spy satellite.

Pyongyang's two previous satellite launch attempts failed this year, with the equipment deemed nonfunctional, the Associated Press reported.

The state-owned Korean Central News Agency did not comment on the reportedly failed missile test, but it has played up the recent satellite launch.

Kim emphasized the need for more reconnaissance satellites in different orbits to provide valuable real-time information his armed forces, thereby enhancing their posture, KCNA said.

The move drew a backlash from the United States. The White House said it was a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang's use of ballistic missile launch technology.

Kim's regime has conducted 36 missile tests this year, according to data from the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, D.C., including two failed missile launches in May and August.

In 2023, the failure rate for North Korea's missile launches was down to 15 percent, the research group said.

In a meeting this past fall, Kim sought the cooperation of President Vladimir Putin of Russia in spaceflight and satellite development, including rocket technology. Pyongyang may be sharing data from its satellite launches with Moscow, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

Seoul's spy agency said Russia's analysis was likely instrumental in North Korea's latest satellite launch.

"Therefore, the success of this launch vehicle is thought to have been aided by Russian assistance," South Korea's lawmaker Yoo Sang-beom told reporters in Seoul on Thursday.

In response to the satellite launch on Tuesday, the prime minister of South Korea, Han Duck-soo, announced a partial suspension of a 2018 military agreement with the North that will see the resumption of surveillance and patrols on their shared border.

Pyongyang, in turn, said on Thursday that it would deploy more forces and new weapons to the border.

Amid concerns about renewed tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and potential knock-on effects for regional stability, China's Foreign Ministry it hoped "all parties will exercise calm and restraint."

"China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Wednesday at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

Beijing and Pyongyang are each other's only defense treaty ally, based on a Cold War pact signed in 1961.

Correction: 11/25/23 at 10:07 ET. Corrects spelling to Kim Jong-Un