Nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan discussed coordination efforts Wednesday after North Korea fired a ballistic missile that appears to have failed, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

Lee Jun-il, director general for Korean Peninsula policy, shared the assessment on the latest missile launch, with his US and Japanese counterparts, Jung Pak and Yukiya Hamamoto, respectively, the ministry said.

"The three sides condemned the North's ballistic missile launch as a clear violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and said they pose a serious threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the international community," the ministry said in a release.

Earlier in the day, the North appears to have test-fired a hypersonic missile, but the test is believed to have ended in failure after the missile flew some 250 kilometers.

The missile was launched at about 5:30 a.m. from an area near Pyongyang, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message sent to reporters. An analysis was under way by South Korean and US intelligence authorities to find out more details.

Regarding the North's repeated sending of balloons filled with trash, Lee told his counterparts that South Korea will make sure it prepares for and firmly deals with any provocations by the North, the ministry said.

Overnight, North Korea has launched more than 250 trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea, marking the sixth launch of such balloons since late last month.

North Korea is estimated to have launched more than 2,000 balloons since May 28 in a tit-for-tat move against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by North Korean defectors and activists in the South. (Yonhap)