Pentagon: A North Korean nuclear attack ‘will be met with an overwhelming and effective response’

WASHINGTON, DC — Hours after North Korea launched its second missile test in the past week, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter met with South Korea's minister of defense, Han Min Koo, at the Pentagon on Thursday.

"As with previous tests we strongly condemn last night's attempt, which, even when failed, violated several UN Security Council resolutions, and affirm that this latest provocation only strengthens our resolve to work together with our Republic of Korea allies to maintain stability on the peninsula," Carter said in opening remarks.

Also read: North Koreans are defecting from the country in droves

The Hermit Kingdom's latest test occurred on Wednesday at 5 p.m. CDT near the northwestern city of Kusŏng, according to a US Strategic Command statement. The presumed Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile failed upon launch.

The Musudan missile is speculated to have a range of 1,500 to 2,400 miles, capable of targeting military installations in Guam and Japan, based on estimates from the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

North Korea has tested Musudan missiles eight times this year. All launches except the sixth one, on June 22, were considered to be failures.

Carter and Han described new opportunities for bilateral cooperation, specifically, bolstering maritime security to counter North Korea's submarine-based ballistic-missile launches.

"A submarine launch poses an especially grave threat since it could catch the United States and allies by surprise," Rebeccah Heinrichs, a fellow at the Hudson Institute specializing in nuclear deterrence and missile defense, told Business Insider in a previous interview.

North Korea successfully launched a missile from a submarine in August with a range capable of striking parts of Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang first attempted a submarine-based missile launch last year, doing so again at the end of April of this year.