South Korea's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that North Korea failed in its latest test-firing of a missile that was believed to have exploded in the air just seconds after launch.

South Korean media quoted one of Seoul’s defense ministry officials as saying North Korea fired one missile near the Wonsan airfield on its eastern coast and it was believed to have failed.

South Korean media reports that the test-firing was an apparent show of force toward the ongoing U.S-South Korea military exercises.

"South Korea and the United States are aware of the North Korean missile launch," said a spokesman for Seoul's defense ministry, AFP reported.
 
"Suspect it was a failure" Seoul defense spokesman added.
 
The Seoul defense ministry did not identify the type of missile used by North Korea.

North Korea launched four missiles earlier this month, with three landing close to Japan.