The U.S. military said Thursday the rocket launched by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fell into sea after the launch failed.

Photo taken on April 8, 2012 shows the rocket for launching Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite installed on the launch pad in Tongchang-ri base, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). [Xinhua]?

According to a statement provided by the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, officials acknowledged that U.S. systems detected and tracked a launch of the rocket at 6:39 p.m. EDT (2239 GMT). The rocket was tracked on a southerly launch over the Yellow Sea.

Initial indications are that the first stage of the rocket fell into the sea 165 km west of Seoul, South Korea. The remaining stages were assessed to have failed and no debris fell on land.

The DPRK has so far neither confirmed nor denied the launch of the rocket.