North Korea fired what appeared to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday but it crashed seconds after the test launch, South Korea's defence ministry said.
North Korean officials did not immediately comment.
Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, said that South Korean defence ministry confirmed that the missile was launched 6:40 am local time.
A defence ministry official told Reuters news agency that it appeared to be a Musudan missile with a range of more than 3,000km - the same type of rocket believed to have failed in a test launch earlier this month.
The powerful mid-range missile could one day be capable of reaching far-off US military bases in Asia and the Pacific. It exploded in the air a few seconds after it launched, the Southern official said.
"We are also hearing from semi-official Yonhap news agency citing unnamed military officials that it was not detected on South Korean military radar system because it apparently did not get high enough to be detected by that system," Fawcett said.
"It was detected by a US intelligence satellite over North Korea," he said.
The launch came as the Koreas traded threats as Pyongyang expressed anger over annual South Korean-US military drills that the North calls a rehearsal for an invasion.
The reported crash comes ahead of a major ruling party meeting next week in Pyongyang.
"Well that is very rare event. It is the seventh such event since the foundation of ruling party of North Korea. It is very much centered around the personage of Kim Jung-un and his general status," the Al Jazeera correspondent said.
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