China remains tight-lipped over North Korea's 'failed' missile test

"Our military is building and is rapidly becoming stronger than ever before", he tweeted.

Reports into the type of missile used have not been confirmed, but a South Korean official has hinted it may have been an ICBM.

Trump's very strong preference is for China, North Korea's dominant trade partner, to take the lead on dealing with North Korea, said the people familiar with the White House's strategy.

Pence said that the era of U.S. "strategic patience" in dealing with the North was over, after more than two decades.

"There is an worldwide consensus now, including the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just can not continue", McMaster said.

China, which Trump has urged to do more to rein in North Korea, has spoken out against its missile and nuclear tests and has supported United Nations sanctions.

On Friday, North Korea said the unsafe security situation was due to the "Trump administration's reckless military provocation". The official said, without elaborating, that had it been a nuclear test, "other actions would have been taken by the U.S".

Pence who arrived in the region Sunday spoke Monday from South Korea and said: He said that the threat of North Korea to use any of their nuclear weapons would be met by "overwhelming and effective response".

Vice President Mike Pence says the USA commitment to South Korea is "iron-clad and immutable" in the face of North Korea's work to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to stress close coordination between Tokyo and Washington over North Korea when he meets with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Tokyo.

His vice president, Mike Pence, is telling American and South Korea service members that the North's latest "provocation", a failed missile launch shortly before his arrival in Seoul, has laid bare the risks they face.

"North Korea is a liability to everybody and it's a threat not just to the United States, not just to South Korea, not just to Japan, not just to Russian Federation, but it's actually a threat to China as well", McFarland said on Fox News Sunday.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the latest test but had "no further comment".

Kim In Ryong told a news conference that "if the US dares opt for a military action", North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S".

Pence is on the first stop of a four-nation Asia tour meant to show America's allies, and remind its adversaries, that the Trump administration is not turning its back on the increasingly volatile region.

According to ABC News, a Defense Department official said that a ballistic missile launch "blew up nearly immediately".

Moon Jae-in of the biggest Minjoo Party, a frontrunner in recent opinion polls, have claimed the final decision on whether to deploy THAAD in South Korea should be made by next government after the presidential election. It has repeatedly called for talks to defuse the crisis.

However, he said the failure showed that Pyongyang missile technology was flawed.

The high failure rate of the North's missile tests has prompted speculation that the United States is already doing so.

Pyongyang's rogue atomic ambitions have come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with Trump vowing a tough stance against the North and threatening unilateral action if China failed to help curb its neighbour's nuclear programme. He added that any strike by the USA would be "a very risky course".