WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea launched a missile near Sinpo, on its east coast, and the missile blew up almost immediately, a U.S. military spokesman said on Saturday.

U.S. Pacific Command detected and tracked what it assessed to be a North Korean ballistic missile launch at 11:21 a.m. Hawaii time (1721 ET) on Saturday, said U.S. Navy Commander Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command.

"The missile blew up almost immediately," Benham said. "The type of missile is still being assessed."

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(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Editing by Sandra Maler)