Why 'Failed' Missile Test Is Being Hailed as a Success for North Korea

North Korea has reportedly launched two more ballistic missiles this week over the Sea of Japan.

U.S. and South Korean military officials say one of the missiles failed. The other launch, however, was a big step in the regime's development of a powerful missile intended to reach U.S. bases in the Pacific.

It reportedly reached an altitude of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

"We have to see it as a success," Lee Choon Geun, an analyst at South Korea's state-funded Science and Technology Policy Institute, told The Associated Press. "No other (previous) missiles fired by North Korea have ever flown that high."

Both tests were condemned by the State Department.

"We strongly condemn these and North Korea's other recent missile tests, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea's launches using ballistic missile technology," State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

"These provocations only serve to increase the international community's resolve to counter the DPRK's prohibited activities, including through implementing existing UN Security Council sanctions," he added.

Wednesday's launches come as diplomats from America and North Korea are attending a six-nation security forum in Beijing.

U.S. officials say at this point there are no plans for talks.