U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges North Korea to halt provocative actions, his spokesman said Tuesday, after the communist nation carried out an intermediate-range ballistic missile test in violation of U.N. resolutions.

"The secretary general's view on the DPRK is unchanged that Security Council resolutions and sanctions should be fully applied and that DPRK authorities should cease provocative actions," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a briefing in response to a question about the North's missile test.

Earlier Tuesday, the North attempted unsuccessfully to launch the Musudan ballistic missile believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. Officials in South Korea said the missile is believed to have exploded on a mobile launcher as soon as the fire button was pressed.

It was the North's fourth attempt to test the missile. All previous tests also failed. (Yonhap)