North Korean ballistic missile test ends in failure

North Korea's test launch of a missile in May fuelled alarm about the possibility of advances in the state's military capabilities

South Korean activists hold placards showing portraits of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a rally denouncing North Korea's rocket firing, in Seoul on 21 August, 2015 (JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

A North Korean submarine-launched ballistic missile test ended in failure with no indication the missile successfully ejected from the vessel.

"There is no identification of a missile taking flight and only fragments of a safety cover was observed so it's highly likely that the launch was a misfire," a South Korean government source was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

In May, North Korea's test launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) fuelled alarm in South Korea and the United States about the possibility of advances in the state's military capabilities.

In the same month, a North Korean official claimed the country was nuclear-capable and equipped with long-range missiles which he threatened could be used against the US.

However, high ranking US military officials and rocket experts have questioned the authenticity of photographs of the launch released by the North, saying they were likely modified.

Some experts say the missile was likely launched from a specially designed submerged barge and not from a submarine.

Yet South Korea said it believed the rocket was fired from a submarine and flew about 150 metres out of the water.

The hermit state has previously said it had restarted all uranium enrichment plants and nuclear reactors, warning it was prepared to launch a nuclear attack on the US "at any time".