File photo provided by Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Feb. 13, 2017 shows a test firing of a surface-to-surface medium- and long-range ballistic missile Pukguksong-2 on Feb. 12, 2017. (Xinhua/KCNA)

SEOUL, March 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's defense ministry said on Wednesday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) failed in its test-firing of a missile that was believed to have exploded in the air.

A South Korean defense ministry official said via phone that the DPRK fired one missile near the Wonsan airfield on its eastern coast and it was estimated to have failed.

According to local media reports, the missile exploded in the air right after blasting off from the ground.

The test-firing was an apparent show of force toward the ongoing U.S.-South Korea military exercises, codenamed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.

The Foal Eagle fielding training exercise, which kicked off from March 1, is scheduled to continue by the end of next month, with the Key Resolve command post exercise set to end on Friday.

The DPRK has denounced the springtime war games as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.