A new North Korean missile test appeared to have ended in failure, according to South Korean and US officials.
The reported failed launch on Wednesday came during large-scale annual military drills involving US and South Korean forces that the North has called a rehearsal for an invasion.
Seoul's defence ministry said in a statement that Pyongyang fired one missile from an air base in the eastern port of Wonsan but the launch was believed to had failed.
"We are in the process of analysing what type of missile it was," it added.
The statement came after Japan's Kyodo news service, citing an unidentified government source, said the North might have launched several missiles and that they were a failure.
A US military spokesman also said they had detected a failed North Korean missile launch attempt, with a missile exploding within seconds of its launch.
"US Pacific Command detected what we assess was a failed North Korean missile launch attempt ... in the vicinity of Kalma," Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for US Pacific Command, said in a statement, referring to an air field on North Korea's east coast.
"A missile appears to have exploded within seconds of launch," Benham said, adding that work was being carried out on a more detailed assessment.
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