Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong-UnReuters

A former Foreign Secretary of Britain says that he believes it highly likely that the failure of the North Korean missile launch on Sunday was no accident.

Malcolm Rifkind, a British politician who formerly served as the British Foreign Secretary and Defence Secretary, said that he believes the failed North Korean missile launch on Sunday may have been the result of US hacking efforts.

"It could have failed because the system is not competent enough to make it work, but there is a very strong belief that the US - through cyber methods - has been successful on several occasions in interrupting these sorts of tests and making them fail," he told the BBC.

The failed launch came a day after North Korea, in an annual show of force, paraded missiles and rocket launchers through the streets of Pyongyang to mark the 105th birthday of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder.

Earlier in April, North Korea had tested another ballistic missile at Sinpo; that missile had fallen into the Sea of Japan.