A fresh North Korean missile test failed when it exploded after launch Sunday, the US military said, a day after Pyongyang publicly showcased its ballistic arsenal at a giant military parade.

The failure, which is likely to be seen as something of an embarrassment for the regime, came amid soaring tensions in the region over the North's nuclear weapons ambitions.

"The missile blew up almost immediately," the US Defence Department said of the early morning launch which was also monitored by the South Korean military.

Neither was able to determine immediately what kind of missile was being tested.

It came a day after North Korea displayed nearly 60 missiles -- including what is suspected to be a new intercontinental ballistic missile -- at a parade to mark the 105th birthday of its founder Kim Il-Sung.

The parade was held in front of the cameras of invited world media, who were still in Pyongyang when Sunday's test failure was detected.

Pyongyang's rogue atomic ambitions have come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with United States President Donald Trump vowing a tough stance against the North and threatening unilateral action if China failed to help curb its neighbour's nuclear programme.

The latest missile test attempt comes just hours ahead of a visit by Vice President Mike Pence to Seoul, where the nuclear issue will be top of the agenda at talks with South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-Ahn.

Trump has repeatedly said he will prevent Pyongyang from its goal of developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States.

As hostilities in the region surge Trump has sent an aircraft carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula to press his point.

The North has reiterated its constant refrain that it is ready for "war" with the US.

Its army vowed Friday a "merciless" response to any US provocation, adding that Trump had "entered the path of open threat and blackmail" against Pyongyang.

Speculation is brewing that the North is preparing a sixth nuclear test, with satellite images showing its main nuclear site "primed and ready," according to specialist US website 38North.

White House officials saying military options were "already being assessed".

China, the North's sole major ally, and Russia have both urged restraint, with Beijing's foreign minister Wang Yi warning Friday that "conflict could break out at any moment".

The UN Security Council has imposed six sets of sanctions against the North since its first nuclear test in 2006 -- all of which have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

Pyongyang has carried out five nuclear tests - two of them last year - and multiple missile launches, one of which saw three rockets come down in waters provocatively close to Japan last month.

Intelligence officials have warned it could be less than two years away from achieving the ability to strike the continental United States.

Kim oversees North Korea display of military strength
Pyongyang (AFP) April 15, 2017 - North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un Saturday saluted as ranks of goose-stepping soldiers followed by tanks and other military hardware paraded in Pyongyang for a show of strength with tensions mounting over his nuclear ambitions.

After inspecting an honour guard, Kim, in a black suit, watched the parade pour into Kim Il-Sung Square, accompanied by top military and party leaders, state television showed in a live broadcast.

Led by rows of military bands, columns of troops toting rifles and a troupe of sword-wielding female soldiers marched into the vast square in the heart of the city which was festooned in the national colours of blue, white and red.

"Today's parade will provide a chance to display our powerful military might," a male voiceover said on the TV broadcast.

Ostensibly the event is to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim's grandfather, the North's founder Kim Il-Sung -- a date known as the "Day of the Sun" in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the country's official name.

But it is also intended to send an unmistakable message to Washington about the isolated, nuclear-armed North's military might.

Kim did not address the rally, but his close aide Choe Ryong-Hae gave a defiant speech saying that Pyongyang would react in kind to any provocation -- nuclear or otherwise.

"We're prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks," Choe said.

Pyongyang is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its atomic and ballistic missile programmes, and has ambitions to build a rocket capable of delivering a warhead to the US mainland -- something US President Donald Trump has vowed "won't happen".

It has carried out five nuclear tests -- two of them last year -- and multiple missile launches, one of which saw three rockets come down in waters provocatively close to Japan last month.

Speculation that it could conduct a sixth blast in the coming days to coincide with the anniversary has reached fever pitch, with specialist US website 38North describing its Punggye-ri test site as "primed and ready" and White House officials saying military options were "already being assessed".

Trump has dispatched the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and an accompanying battle group to the Korean peninsula.

"We are sending an armada. Very powerful," Trump told the Fox Business Network. "He is doing the wrong thing," he added of Kim. "He's making a big mistake."

China, the North's sole major ally, and Russia have both urged restraint, with Beijing's Foreign Minister Wang Yi warning Friday that "conflict could break out at any moment".

North Korea's army vowed Friday a "merciless" response to any US provocation but diplomats in Pyongyang are more sanguine, pointing out that the North raises its rhetoric every spring, when Washington and Seoul hold annual joint exercises that it views as preparations for invasion.

None of the North's five previous nuclear tests has taken place in the month of April.

- 'Tough message' -

The hardware displayed Saturday included what appeared to be a new ICBM and a submarine-launched ballistic missile, which Pyongyang successfully test-fired last August, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

Military specialists keep a close eye on Pyongyang's military parades for clues about developments in the North's capabilities.

The 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty and Pyongyang says that it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against a possible US invasion.

The US cruise missile strike on Syria vindicated its stance, it said last weekend.

Pyongyang could use the parade as a show of strength in preference to a nuclear test, analysts said.

It wanted to send "a tough message to the United States in response to the Trump administration's recent rhetoric and the military steps the United States has taken", said Evans Revere of the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Another missile launch or nuclear test "can't be ruled out", he said, but the Syria strike and Washington's implied threats "may give Pyongyang some pause".

"A parade is a highly visible but non-kinetic way of showing off capabilities," he told AFP.

The North is aiming its message at China as well as the US, analysts say.

Beijing has made clear its frustration with Pyongyang's stubbornness but its priority remains preventing any instability on its doorstep, and it has been unnerved by the sabre-rattling.

Pyongyang was "upset with all of its neighbours", said Bruce Bennett of the Rand Organisation and Kim needs to "demonstrate defiance".

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Xi urges peaceful resolution of N. Korea tensions in Trump call
Beijing (AFP) April 12, 2017
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged Donald Trump to peacefully resolve tensions over North Korea's nuclear programme, as the US president touted the power of a naval "armada" steaming towards the Korean peninsula. China's foreign ministry said Wednesday the two leaders had spoken by phone, days after Trump sent the aircraft carrier-led strike group to the region in a show of force ahead of a ... read more

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