A North Korean missile launched near Sinpo on the east coast "blew up almost immediately", according to US Pacific Command.

Key points: Both US and South Korea reported missile launch failed

Both US and South Korea reported missile launch failed US Vice-President Mike Pence arrives in South Korea for talks over North's arms program

US Vice-President Mike Pence arrives in South Korea for talks over North's arms program North Korea had warned of nuclear strike against the US if provoked

The failed launch came a day after North Korea held a military parade in its capital, marking the birth anniversary of the state founder, where what appeared to be new long-range ballistic missiles were on display.

"The North attempted to launch an unidentified missile from near the Sinpo region this morning but it is suspected to have failed," the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The US Pacific Command said the type of missile that was fired was being analysed.

A US official described the launch as land-based, while another said there was a high degree of confidence it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile.

South Korea said the North's combined show of force "threatened the whole world" but a US foreign policy adviser travelling with US Vice-President Mike Pence, who arrived in Seoul hours after the deployment, played down the missile test.

"We had good intelligence before the launch and good intelligence after the launch," the adviser said on condition of anonymity.

"It's a failed test. It follows another failed test. So really no need to reinforce their failure. We don't need to expend any resources against that."

South Korea's Yonhap news agency cited an unnamed South Korean intelligence source as saying the missile appeared to have not flown far from its land-based launch site.

"North Korea showing a variety of offensive missiles at [Saturday's] military parade and daring to fire a ballistic missile [on Sunday] is a show of force that threatens the whole world," South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The South's National Security Council said it would respond strongly to any further provocation.

A strike group led by aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson is headed towards the region in the wake of North Korea's missile launch. ( Reuters/US Navy )

South Korea, which hosts 28,500 US troops to help counter threats from Pyongyang, warned of punitive action if the launch led to further provocations such as a nuclear test or a long-range missile launch.

China, which US President Donald Trump has urged to do more to rein its ally in North Korea, has spoken out against its missile and nuclear tests and has supported UN sanctions.

Beijing's top diplomat Yang Jiechi and US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, exchanged views on the "situation on the Korean peninsula" by phone after the test on Sunday, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. It did not elaborate.

Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described North Korea as a "rogue state" and praised the role the US has in the security arrangements in the Asia Pacific.

"We do need, I think, countries in the region including China to exert what influence they have over North Korea," he said.

"I think there's a good opportunity here for China to demonstrate as it emerges in the world that it can have a positive influence on its close neighbours."

The US nuclear-powered USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is heading to the region in the wake of the launch.

Possible test for new missile or upgrade: expert

Map S Korea said the missile was launched from near Sinpo

Sinpo, where the launch took place, is the site of a North Korean submarine base and where the North has tested the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) it is developing.

The missile launched earlier this month flew about 60 kilometres, but what US officials said appeared to be a liquid-fuelled, extended-range Scud missile only travelled a fraction of its range before spinning out of control.

"It appears [Sunday's] launch was already scheduled for re-launching after the earlier test-firing," said Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.

"This launch can possibly be a test for a new type of missile or an upgrade."

Mr Pence is in Seoul, the South Korean capital, at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia in what his aides said was a sign of the US commitment to its ally in the face of rising tension over North Korea.

The White House has said Mr Trump has put the North "on notice" while the possibility of US military action against Pyongyang has gained traction following US strikes against Syria on April 7.

Mr Trump has ordered a navy strike group led by a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to head to the region as a show of force as his officials assess tougher economic sanctions as well as military options against the North.

North Korea has in turn warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked.

The North has said it had developed and would launch a missile that could strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believed it was some time away from mastering all the necessary technology.

Reuters