The North's test firing can be seen as a message of defiance to the Trump administration in Washington, coming as it does on the day US Vice President Mike Pence is set to arrive in Seoul for talks on North Korea.
Pence's remarks at an Easter Service with American troops based in South Korea came after North Korea launched a missile off its east coast.
President Donald Trump had warned North Korea that a missile launch could provoke a response from the United States as American military continues to amass around the Korean peninsula.
North Korea launched an unidentified missile, unsuccessfully, on Sunday morning from its east coast, near Sinpo, say US military officials.
The failed launch occurred as Pence was flying over the Bering Sea on his way to Seoul, the first stop on 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.
"And that includes. the Chinese people and the Chinese leadership as well", said National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
"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 Sunday on "Fox News Sunday".
Pence's first trip to South Korea carries personal meaning as well.
At the city's annual Kimilsungia flower show - held to celebrate Saturday's 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founding ruler, Kim Il Sung, and the purple orchid named for him - thousands crowded around the displays, many using cellphones to take photos of friends and family.
They launched a long-range rocket and conducted two nuclear tests a year ago, including its most powerful to date, as well as carrying out a slew of shorter range missile firings.
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The units are active in testing the defences of their bitter enemy and have been detected operating in or around South Korea many times since the end of the Korean War.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hailed that test as the "greatest success" and said it brought the USA mainland within range of a mobile delivery system.
The demilitarised zone (DMZ) is a heavily mined, four-km-wide strip of land lined with barbed wire running across the Korean peninsula, with soldiers on both sides in a continual eyeball-to-eyeball standoff.
"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.
President Donald Trump warns he's ready to "solve North Korea", while North Korea's deputy foreign minister says his country will conduct its next nuclear test whenever it sees fit.
The US Pacific Command said the missile "blew up nearly immediately", adding the type of missile was being analysed.
By Easter Sunday, North Korea tested a non-nuclear missile, but it fizzled out seconds after launch. "It's there to prevent rockets slamming from the North Koreans", an American official said while previewing Pence's trip.
"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 Sunday on "Fox News Sunday".
Speaking from Afghanistan on US ABC, he made a point of stating several times that China - North Korea's key ally - is now concerned about the reclusive communist state's behaviour.
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