North Korea test-fired a missile launch from its Wonsan air base on the east coast on Wednesday, but it failed almost immediately, South Korean and US defence officials said, as the region remained tense over Pyongyang's increasingly active weapons programme.
"North Korea fired one missile from an area near the Wonsan Air Base this morning, but it's presumed to have failed," the defence ministry in the South Korean capital Seoul said in a brief statement, adding that it was "not fired normally."
The statement was carried by the Yonhap news agency.
Allies South Korea and the US are currently engaged in an annual joint military training on the Korean peninsula, which every year sparks increased aggressiveness by the North, which sees the drills as a precursor to an invasion.
US Pacific Command spokesman Dave Benham said the missile appeared to have exploded within seconds of its launch from an area in the vicinity of Kalma in Gangwon province.
“We are working with our inter-agency partners on a more detailed assessment. We continue to monitor North Korea’s actions closely,” Mr Benham said in a statement.
It was not clear what type of projectile was involved and whether it blew up mid-air or not.
On March 6th, the North fired four ballistic missiles from its the Dongchang-ri launch site which fell into the sea near Japan.
The current round of drills are called Foal Eagle and Key Resolve and the US has sent an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine for the exercises.
The US government under Donald Trump has signalled a tougher response to North Korea, and during his East Asian tour last week, secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned that all options were on the table.
The launch came as Washington's envoy for North Korea's nuclear programme, Joseph Yun, met his South Korean counterpart, Kim Hong-kyun, in Seoul to discuss a response to the North's activities. The tests are in defiance of outrage from the international community and sanctions by the United Nations.
