North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-UnReuters

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday boasted that the country possesses "the sure capability to attack" U.S. interests in the Pacific, Reuters reports.

The dictator made the comments said following the test launch of a "medium long-range strategic ballistic missile" earlier in the day, according to the report.

The North launched what appeared to be two intermediate-range Musudan missiles on Wednesday morning local time.

The first of the two tests was considered a failure but Pyongyang test-fired a second rocket just hours later.

The second reached a high altitude in the direction of Japan before plunging into the sea about 400 km (250 miles) away, according to officials quoted by Reuters.

"We have the sure capability to attack in an overall and practical way the Americans in the Pacific operation theater," the North Korean official news agency KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

The North has already made four previous failed attempts this year to test fly the Musudan, which has an estimated range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The last such attempt came at the end of May.

North Korea has continued to test fire missiles despite UN measures which ban it from any use of ballistic missile technology.

South Korea and the United States both condemned the latest launches as an unacceptable violation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to Reuters.

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said the launch was an indication that North Korea's threat to Japan was intensifying.