[Editorial] Evolving missile tests

North Korea test-fired what appeared to be two mid-range ballistic missiles Wednesday. The communist country managed to fly its intermediate-range ballistic missile for some hundred kilometers for the first time.

While the first launch was deemed to be a failure, the second projectile’s flight, while well short of the 500 kilometer suspected minimum flight range of the Musudan, was assessed to have managed to sustain flight for a significant range.

As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified, it could be a grave danger to the peace and security of the peninsula and neighboring countries.

Musudan has a presumed range of 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers, which puts the U.S. base on Guam within its striking range. Deployed for use since 2007, its presence has been a looming threat over Seoul as well as U.S. forces deployed in the Asia-Pacific region.

Its launch in April -- along with three subsequent ones prior to Wednesday -- have all ended in failures, raising questions about the legitimacy of the Musudan’s capacity.

But the South’s military noted that the North may have made some sort of breakthrough after the series of botched launches.

Officials of Joint Chiefs of Staff said Seoul “suspects that there has been a certain level of progress in the functions of the missile’s engine.”

There is speculation that the Musudan had flown 400 kilometers because Pyongyang shot it at a higher degree than usual. This sparked a scenario that North Korea had deliberately reduced the range of the missile so that it will not fly into Japanese territory.

The missile, fired from Wonsan, Gangwon Province, is presumed to have flown toward the East Sea. Military officials confirmed that the missile was launched at a sharper angle, but declined to comment on what happened to the missile.

As seen in Wednesday’s missile launches, Pyongyang is likely to make further provocations such as a new nuclear test, a long-range missile launch, or terror attacks on Seoul. Kim Jong-un’s earlier reaction to the U.N. resolution was to order the military to get ready to launch nuclear strikes at any time.

Skeptics say there is little possibility of the Kim Jong-un regime scrapping its nuclear weapons development as long as at least China tolerates it.

And upon tolerating it further, China also may not be able to control North Korea the way it did in past decades.