South Korea: North Korea missile launch failed

The statement from South Korea's military did not specify what sort of missile was part of the test. The attempt involved an intermediate-range Musudan missile, according to South Korean media reports.

A U.S. defense official said a North Korean missile launch had failed at 4:33 p.m. ET Thursday, after the U.S. Strategic Command systems detected and tracked the attempt. At this time, there was "no evidence the missile reached flight," a U.S. official told CNN's Barbara Starr.

A U.S. State Department official said: "We have seen the reports. We are closely monitoring the situation."

"We call again on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations."

Earlier this week, U.S. intelligence satellites spotted signs that North Korea may have been preparing to launch a mobile ballistic missile. Officials had told CNN that if the regime proceeds with a launch, the most likely scenario is the launch of the Musudan missile, which the U.S. believes could potentially hit Guam and perhaps Shemya Island in the outer reaches of Alaska's Aleutian chain. But U.S. officials also cautioned the regime could decide to do nothing.

Tensions have ratcheted up on the divided Korean Peninsula this year as Pyongyang has made a series of assertions about developments in its military capability.

Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, and had said it succeeded in miniaturizing nuclear warheads to fit on medium-range ballistic missiles -- which unnamed U.S. intelligence analysts say is probably true.

Source: CNN