The United States believes that North Korea launched a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan, in a test today denounced by the White House as a bullying tactic.
"It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the Sea of Japan," White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told CNN. "We're not surprised by this. The North Koreans have tested their missiles before."
US officials said the military picked up indications that there was a new missile test, but US agencies were still assessing the information to determine exactly what took place.
"It does seem this is real in terms of the firing," said one official briefed on the incident.
A senior administration official said the latest test followed an apparent earlier test attempt, on Friday, that failed.
Mr Card told CNN, "We don't think they have had much success in their testing of all of these rockets, multistage rockets."
The incident comes amid what officials said were growing US concerns that North Korea might be trying to harvest nuclear material from a shut-down reactor and may be preparing for an underground nuclear test.
The US Defense Intelligence Agency warned last week that North Korea has the ability to mount a nuclear missile on a long-range missile and the communist state could hit US territory.
Asked what North Korea hoped to achieve by testing the missile, Mr Card told Fox News Sunday: "I think they're looking to kind of be bullies in the world. And they're causing others to stand up and take notice."
In television interviews today, Mr Card accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-il of flaunting his weapons programs and violating past agreements.
"He is not a good person. He is not a good leader," Mr Card said.