By Alex Jensen
SEOUL (AA) – North Korea's latest mid-range missile test appears to have failed, drawing condemnation from South Korean military commanders Sunday.
The attempted launch a day earlier came around a week after Seoul officials had warned of an imminent provocation by the North -- even as Pyongyang is still set to be hit by stronger United Nations sanctions for its fifth ever nuclear test last month.
Saturday's reported test was the latest in a series of launches -- successful and otherwise -- by North Korea this year despite UN restrictions on the reclusive state's use of ballistic missile technology.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) "confirmed and condemned the launch", according to local news agency Yonhap.
"The military maintains heightened vigilance against any provocations by the North," read a JCS statement.
Seoul and Washington apparently concluded that the launch involved a Musudan projectile -- meaning that the North's mid-range model has only succeeded in one of seven tests this year.
While another failure casts doubts on Pyongyang's weapon capabilities, North Korea continues to move closer to its goal of being able to reliably strike American targets from Guam to the United States’ mainland.
A statement from Pyongyang's foreign ministry Saturday threatened to make U.S. President Barack Obama understand the price of "hurting the dignity" of its leadership before he leaves the White House.
With the next U.S. presidential election coming up next month, some analysts have been forecasting a further spike in North Korean provocations.
The North regularly defends its own rogue nuclear ambitions as a response to the regional American military presence, with tens of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in both South Korea and Japan.