A soldier watches a TV report at Seoul Station on Nov. 2, about North Korea's launch of at least three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea earlier in the day. One of the missiles flew across its de facto maritime border with South Korea. Yonhap

North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), believed to be a Hwasong-17, apparently ended in failure Thursday, a defense source here said, as the Kim Jong-un regime has intensified its military threats, especially amid large-scale joint air drills of South Korea and the United States.

The missile was launched from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at around 7:40 a.m. and flew about 760 kilometers at an apogee of around 1,920 km at a top speed of Mach 15, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

Following the second stage separation, however, the ICBM seems to have failed in normal flight, the source said later on background, adding it is presumed to be a Hwasong-17 type.

It marked the North's seventh firing of an ICBM this year and the first since late May.

The JCS also said it detected the firing of two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) from Kaechon in South Pyongan Province from around 8:39 a.m.

They traveled some 330 km at a maximum altitude of around 70 km at a top speed of Mach 5, it said.

The North is viewed as having again sought to demonstrate its military might in protest against the five-day massive air exercise of the allies that kicked off Monday.