After several test launches this month, nuclear-armed North Korea’s latest effort looks to have failed. <br /><br /> A missile is said to have exploded just after take-off on Wednesday.<br /><br /> The launch attempt was made from near the city of Wonsan, on North Korea’s east coast, the same place from where it launched several intermediate-range missiles last year.<br /><br /> “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 in Wonsan.<br /><br /> “A missile appears to have exploded within seconds of launch,” Benham said, adding that work was being carried out on a more detailed assessment.<br /><br /> A South Korean military official told Reuters the missile appeared to have exploded just after it was launched.<br /><br /> “It may have exploded right after it took off from a launch pad,” said military official, who declined to be identified.<br /><br /> It was not clear what type of missile it was. The South Korean defence ministry said it was conducting analysis to determine further details.<br /><br /> The threat remains and the US is deploying the THAAD missile-defence system in South Korea, despite Chinese objections.<br /><br /> The latest launch came as the US envoy for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun, met his South Korean counterpart in Seoul to discuss a response to the North’s weapons programmes.<br /><br /> During US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s visit to China, the two sides said they would work together to try to make North Korea take ‘a different course’.<br />
