© Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP ap-17104139584575.jpg

North Korea launched a missile from a test facility near the country's west coast early Sunday morning, U.S. officials tell CBS News national security correspondent David Martin.

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The launch came just days after South Koreans went to the polls to elect a new president.

The South Korean military says the missile flew about 435 miles, or 700 kilometers, according to Reuters. The missile flew for 30 minutes before landing the Sea of Japan, Reuters said, citing a Japanese official.

U.S. officials said they were still assessing whether the launch was successful and trying to determine what kind of missile was tested. The last North Korean missile test on April 28 failed minutes after launch.

The flight was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile, said Maj. Rob Shuford, a spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command.

Although the type of missile is not known, the U.S. had been expecting the North to fire a KN-17 medium-range ballistic missile, Martin reports.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America, Shuford said.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office on Wednesday following his victory in Tuesday's closely watched presidential election. Moon, the country's first liberal leader in a decade, said he would be open to visiting the rival North.

Moon has taken a much more conciliatory position towards the North compared to his predecessor Park Geun-hye, who was removed from office in a corruption scandal.

"I will quickly move to solve the crisis in national security. I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula -- if needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo. If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang," Moon said in his first address to the country's National Assembly.

The Trump administration has called on China to apply more pressure to the North Korean regime. China remains Pyongyang's primary benefactor and trading partner.

In an interview with CBS News' "Face the Nation" in April, President Trump said that pursuing China's help with North Korea is more important than securing better trade agreements.

"I think that, frankly, North Korea is maybe more important than trade," he said. "Trade is very important. But massive warfare with millions, potentially millions of people being killed? That, as we would say, trumps trade."

Mr. Trump also referred to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a "pretty smart cookie."</s>SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea, defying calls to curb its weapons program, fired a ballistic missile that landed in the sea near Russia on Sunday in a launch the United States called a message to South Korea days after its new president took office pledging to engage Pyongyang in dialogue.

Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said the missile could be a new type. It flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea’s east coast and Japan. North Korea has consistently test-fired missiles in that direction.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments showed the missile landed 97 km (60 miles) south of Russia’s Vladivostok region.

The missile flew 700 km (430 miles) and reached an altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,245 miles), according to officials in South Korea and Japan, further and higher than an intermediate-range missile North Korea successfully tested in February from the same region of Kusong, northwest of its capital Pyongyang.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the launch a message by Pyongyang to South Korea after the election of President Moon Jae-in, who took office on Wednesday.

“You first have to get into Kim Jong Un’s head - which is, he’s in a state of paranoia, he’s incredibly concerned about anything and everything around him,” Haley told ABC’s “This Week” program, referring to North Korea’s leader.

Haley added that the United States will “continue to tighten the screws” on North Korea, mentioning sanctions and working with the international community to put pressure on Pyongyang.

Moon held his first National Security Council in response to the launch, which he called a “clear violation” of U.N. Security Council resolutions, his office said.

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the launch, diplomats said on Sunday.

Related Coverage U.N. Security Council to meet Tuesday on North Korea missile launch

The U.S. military’s Pacific Command said it was assessing the type of missile that was fired but it was “not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile”. The U.S. threat assessment has not changed from a national security standpoint, a U.S. official said.

An intercontinental ballistic missile is considered to have a range of more than 6,000 km (3,700 miles).

The White House mentioned Russia in its earlier statement about the launch. “With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil – in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan – the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased,” the White House said, referring to U.S. President Donald Trump.

The launch served as a call for all nations to implement stronger sanctions against North Korea, it added.

North Korea is widely believed to be developing an intercontinental missile tipped with a nuclear weapon that is capable of reaching the United States. Trump has vowed not to let that happen.

Experts said the altitude reached by the missile tested on Sunday meant it was launched at a high trajectory, which would limit the lateral distance it traveled. But if it was fired at a standard trajectory, it would have a range of at least 4,000 km (2,500 miles), experts said.

Kim Dong-yub of Kyungnam University’s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul said he estimated a standard trajectory would give it a range of 6,000 km (3,700 miles).

“The launch may indeed represent a new missile with a long range,” said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, referring to the estimated altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles). “It is definitely concerning.”

People watch a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, May 14, 2017. Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via REUTERS

‘CHANGE IN ATTITUDE’

Moon won Tuesday’s election on a platform of a moderate approach to North Korea and has said he would be willing to go to Pyongyang under the right circumstances, arguing dialogue must be used in parallel with sanctions.

“The president said while South Korea remains open to the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, it is only possible when the North shows a change in attitude,” Yoon Young-chan, Moon’s press secretary, told a briefing.

Ambassador Haley said the launch was not the way for North Korea to earn a meeting with Trump, who has said he would be “honored” to meet Kim Jong Un under the right circumstances.

Trump said in an interview with Reuters in April that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome. On Saturday, a top North Korean diplomat said Pyongyang was open to dialogue with the Trump administration under the right conditions.

Speaking in Beijing, Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, told reporters Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping had discussed the situation on the Korean peninsula, including the latest missile launch, and expressed “mutual concerns” about growing tensions.

Putin is in Beijing for a conference on a plan for a new Silk Road. Delegations from the United States, South Korea and North Korea are also there.

The launch, at 5:27 a.m. Seoul time, came two weeks after North Korea fired a missile that disintegrated minutes into flight, marking its fourth consecutive failure since March.

China, North Korea’s sole main ally which nevertheless objects to its weapons programs, called for restraint and for no one to exacerbate tensions.

“China opposes relevant launch activities by North Korea that are contrary to Security Council resolutions,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said North Korea’s missile launches were a “grave threat to our country and a clear violation of U.N. resolutions”.

Slideshow (3 Images)

North Korean attempted but failed to test-launch ballistic missiles four times in the past two months. It has conducted various tests since the beginning of last year at an unprecedented pace. It also conducted its fourth and fifth nuclear tests last year.

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said among the responses expected from the Trump administration would be further pressure on all countries to fully implement U.N. Security Council sanctions resolutions against North Korea.

For a graphic on nuclear North Korea, click here</s>Image copyright Getty Images Image caption North Korea paraded its military hardware in Pyongyang last month

North Korea has carried out another ballistic missile test, days after a new president took office in the South.

Japanese officials say the missile, which launched from north-western Kusong, reached an altitude of 2,000km.

South Korea's newly elected President Moon Jae-in, who is seeking deeper engagement with the North, said it was a "reckless provocation".

US President Donald Trump has called for "stronger sanctions" against North Korea, while China is urging restraint.

A series of North Korean missile tests this year - which are banned by the UN - has sparked international alarm and raised tensions with the US.

Two missile launches last month both failed, with the rockets exploding just minutes into flight.

Is it a new type of missile?

The nature of the launch is still being determined, but analysts have said the test could suggest a longer range than previously tested devices.

The Japanese defence minister said it flew for about 30 minutes before falling in the Sea of Japan and could be a new type of missile.

Tomomi Inada said it covered a distance of about 700km (435 miles), reaching an altitude of more than 2,000km (1,245 miles) - higher than that reached by an intermediate-range missile North Korea fired in February.

Intercontinental ballistic missiles [ICBMs] can potentially reach altitudes of hundreds of kilometres, taking them well outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Experts quoted by Reuters say the altitude meant the missile was launched at a high trajectory, limiting the lateral distance it travelled. They say if it had been fired at a standard trajectory, it would have had a range of at least 4,000km.

The US Pacific Command said in a statement the type was being assessed but that its flight was not consistent with that of an ICBM, which would have the range to reach the US mainland (more than 6,000km).

North Korea is believed to be developing two types of ICBM, but neither has so far been flight tested.

How close is the North to an ICBM? BBC's Korea correspondent Stephen Evans

Image copyright Getty Images

If the Japanese analysis of the trajectory is right (that the missile reached an altitude of 2,000km), North Korea appears to have advanced its technology markedly.

The previous two tests failed, so reliability is not there yet. But last month some experts reckoned that a seemingly new missile on parade in Pyongyang may have been an ICBM (the type President Trump said "won't happen").

Jeffrey Lewis of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California thought at the time that the new missiles on show might be ICBMs. Is this that missile?

One thing is certain: North Korea will certainly trumpet its success if it does now have the capability to strike the US military bases on Guam, 3,400km from Pyongyang in the Western Pacific. Mr Trump would ponder what to do with even greater urgency.

What has been the reaction?

Mr Moon hosted an emergency meeting of his security council in the wake of the launch.

"The president said while South Korea remains open to the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, it is only possible when the North shows a change in attitude," his spokesman said.

Meanwhile, a member of South Korea's ruling party attending a major summit in China reportedly told the North Korean delegation directly that they "strongly condemned" the launch.

Image copyright EPA Image caption South Koreans will be watching closely to see how their new leader responds to the test

The White House said President Donald Trump "cannot imagine Russia is pleased" because the missile did not land far from Russian territory.

It added that the new launch should serve as a call for stronger sanctions against North Korea.

A Kremlin spokesperson later said Russian President Vladimir Putin was concerned by the test.

China, North Korea's only major ally, called for restraint by "all relevant parties" in the wake of the latest test.

How are US-North Korea relations?

The North has conducted five nuclear tests despite UN sanctions and is also developing long-range missiles.

It is reported to be continuing efforts to miniaturise nuclear warheads and fit them on missiles capable of reaching the US.

Washington has accused other UN Security Council members of not fully enforcing existing sanctions against the North, and has urged China in particular to use its trade links as influence.

But despite poor relations, North Korea recently said it would hold talks with the US "if the conditions were right".

The comments, by a senior North Korean diplomat, came after US President Donald Trump said he would be "honoured" to meet the North's leader, Kim Jong-un.</s>North Korea has yet again fired off another ballistic missile in direct violation of United Nations resolutions forbidding the rogue regime from engaging in such aggressive military activities. The missile landed in the Sea of Japan, according to U.S. officials, but its close proximity to Russian territory — 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Russia’s naval port of Vladivostok, home to its Pacific Fleet — that is of most concern.

As the Daily Mail reported earlier this week, North Korea, in the midst of saying it is considering talks with the United States about the two countries’ tense relationship, fired a ballistic missile from Kusong to about 500 miles (805 kilometers) out into the Sea of Japan. The missile test comes just after weeks of North Korea’s engaging in other ballistic missile tests (four in all) and threatening the United States and its allies in the region with nuclear war, even preemptive nuclear strikes. The missile launch also sends a mixed message in that it has been reported that DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) spokesman Choe Son Hui stated that North Korea would be willing to talk with the Trump administration under the “right conditions,” although what the conditions to be met might be are still unknown.

President Donald Trump opened up the opportunity for possible dialogue between North Korea and the United States earlier this month when he said he would be “honored” to meet DPRK leader Kim Jong-Un. The suggestion of a meeting was a strong departure from three months of confrontational posturing by administration officials that publicly declared that the United States would be attempting a “new approach” with regard to North Korea and its nuclear weapons program.

But there was no mention of peace talks in the White House’s condemnation of North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test.

“With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil – in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan – the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased,” the White House statement read. “North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long. South Korea and Japan have been watching this situation closely with us. The United States maintains our ironclad commitment to stand with our allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea. Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea.”

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin was in Beijing on a two-day trip to China when the missile test occurred.

Still, Moscow’s response was far more dismissive than Washington’s.

RT reported that Russia’s ballistic missile launch early warning system (SPRN) had tracked the North Korean missile throughout its flight. “The missile launch didn’t pose any threat to the Russian Federation,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, pointing out that the missile had landed 500 kilometers (311 miles) from Russian territory. “Russian early warning radar and air defense forces are on regular duty now.”

There has been a growing fear within the past few months that rising tensions in the region could be exploited, even exacerbated by North Korea. With the rogue nation’s aggressive ballistic missile testing and threats of continuing its nuclear weapons testing (also a clear violation of United Nations mandates), not to mention its bellicose threats of nuclear war against the U.S. and its allies and those nations’ reciprocal threats (including the U.S. threatening a preemptive military strike), relations have been strained. But then there was the hint that there might be some room for peaceful negotiations between all parties concerned (which included China, North Korea’s only political and economic ally).

It has taken only days and another ballistic missile test to send relations back to a more confrontational footing, leaving the world trying to decipher just what kind of message North Korea is trying to send.</s>(CNN) North Korea carried out a provocative new ballistic missile test early Sunday, sending a projectile to a higher altitude and closer to Russia than any of its recent tests, according to officials.

A missile launched near the city of Kusong, in western North Korea, flew across the country and into the Sea of Japan/East Sea, hitting the water about 60 miles from Vladivostok in eastern Russia, according to US officials.

Japan's Defense Ministry said the missile reached an altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) and flew for 30 minutes.

"It is possibly a new type of missile," Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said.

The high altitude and longer flight time indicate a missile with an extended range, according to David Wright, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Guam is home to Andersen Air Force Base, through which the US Air Force rotates heavy bombers including B-1s, B-2s and B-52s.

Russia responded to North Korea's test by putting its far eastern air defenses on high alert, according to a report from the RIA-Novosti news agency.

"We cannot fail to understand that the territory of Russia is not only an object for attack but also a place where a missile may fall. In order to protect ourselves from possible incidents, we will keep our air defense systems in the Far East in a state of increased combat readiness," Viktor Ozerov, head of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, is quoted as saying.

Sunday's test is the first from North Korea since South Korean President Moon Jae-in took office last week. Moon has advocated dialogue with North Korea to denuclearize.

Moon said the missile test violates UN Security Council resolutions and called it a severe challenge to the peace and security of the Korean Peninsula and the world, presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said.

South Korea needs to show the North that even though talks are possible, it will only be possible if North Korea changes its attitude, the President told staff.

He said South Korea will respond to provocations.

The direction of the missile, so close to Russia, was likely an attempt by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to send a message to both Moscow and Beijing, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

"It tells Russia, 'I can touch you too,'" Schuster said.

"It tells China, 'I don't care what you think, I'm independent,'" he said.

China remains one of North Korea's only allies and is responsible for much of the heavily-sanctioned nation's economy.

On Sunday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping launched a major trade and infrastructure summit with multiple world leaders in Beijing. Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as a North Korean delegation attended the conference.

"The timing is not coincidental," Schuster said, adding that Kim may be trying to get Putin more involved in the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

"It's his way of telling the Russians, 'You need to speak up,'" and stop US-supported international sanctions on North Korea, Schuster said.

The United States called for repercussions from the international community.

"With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil -- in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan -- the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased," the statement said.

"Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a statement.

China called for restraint by all parties.

"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complex and sensitive. All sides should exercise restraint and refrain from taking actions that would further escalate tensions in the region," a statement from China's Foreign Ministry said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch in a quick doorstep interview with reporters.

"Despite strong warning from the international community, North Korea launched a ballistic missile again," Abe said. "This is totally unacceptable and we strongly protest it. North Korea's missile launch is a serious threat to Japan and clearly violate against the UN resolution."

The projectile launch comes two weeks after a ballistic missile test that South Korean and US officials said failed.

That missile, launched April 29, blew up over land in North Korean territory, according to a spokesman for the US Pacific Command.

Before Sunday, North Korea had attempted at least nine missile launches on six occasions since US President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.

Though tensions between the United States and North Korea have been higher than usual over the past few months, a senior North Korean diplomat told South Korea's Yonhap news agency on Saturday that Pyongyang is open to talks with Washington "under the right conditions."

Earlier this month, Trump said he would be willing to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "under the right circumstances."

No sitting US president has ever met with the leader of North Korea while in power, and the idea is extremely controversial.

"North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long. South Korea and Japan have been watching this situation closely with us," Spicer's statement said.

Kim's regime has sought to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The Trump administration has made a show of force in the region to deter those programs' development.</s>North Korea launched a ballistic missile Sunday morning that flew around 430 miles, a South Korean military official said, in what appears to be the latest missile test in defiance of United Nations sanctions.

The unidentified ballistic missile was launched at 5:27 a.m. Seoul time (4:27 p.m. Saturday ET), off Kusong north of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, a South Korean military official told NBC News.

The missile flew around 30 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said.

U.S. officials said they were assessing the projectile launch. South Korea’s newly elected president, Moon Jae-in, has called for the national security council to meet on the matter, a presidential spokesperson said.

The apparent missile test comes after several missile tests this year. Late last month, North Korea launched what was believed to be a short-ranged ballistic missile, but the missile exploded just after launch.

There have been escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula over the North’s missile tests as well as the deployment in South Korea of the U.S. missile defense system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the defence detachment on Jangjae Islet on Mu Islet located in the southernmost part of the waters off the southwest front, in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 5, 2017. KCNA via REUTERS

North Korea has conducted five suspected nuclear tests, including two last year. The country has warned it

was ready to test an intercontinental ballistic missile “at any time” but has never launched such a missile.

The Trump administration in March declared a change in policy towards North Korea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the “the policy of strategic patience has ended” during a visit to South Korea, in which he also said

military action could be on the table if North Korea elevates the threat of its weapons programs.

President Donald Trump in an interview with Reuters last month raised the possibility

of a “major, major conflict” with North Korea if other solutions don’t work.

told Bloomberg that he would be open to meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un if it was under the right circumstances and appropriate to do so. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer later cited North Korea’s provocative actions and other factors and said “clearly the conditions are not there right now.”</s>North Korea has launched a ballistic missile, the first launch since newly elected South Korean president Moon Jae-in has taken office.

Both Moon and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately condemned the launch, with Moon expressing "deep regret" that it occurred shortly after the new government was sworn in.

President Trump has been brief on the latest missile test by North Korea.

"With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil — in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan — the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased. "North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long. South Korea and Japan have been watching this situation closely with us. The United States maintains our ironclad commitment to stand with our allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea. Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea.



NPR's Lauren Frayer reports the exact type of missile is not yet known:



"The U.S. Pacific Command detected and tracked this missile — and says flight data indicate that it was not an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM. Those are the missiles the U.S. is most worried about, with the ability to reach the U.S. West Coast. "U.S. and South Korean military officials are still assessing what type of shorter-range missile this one was."



The missile traveled for about 30 minutes from Kusong, landing in the Sea of Japan. Japanese officials said it reached an unusually high altitude of 1,240 miles, which could indicate a new type of missile.

Abe said, "Japan is closely cooperating with the U.S. and South Korea and analyzing the situation as we firmly respond to the development."

"The launch also comes as troops from the U.S., Japan and two European nations gather near Guam for drills that are partly a message to North Korea. The USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft supercarrier, is also engaging with South Korean navy ships in waters off the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry."</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Just five days after South Korea elected a president who expressed a desire to reach out to North Korea, Pyongyang sent a challenge to its rival’s new leader on Sunday by test-firing a ballistic missile.

The missile flew for half an hour and reached an unusually high altitude before landing in the Sea of Japan, the South Korean, Japanese and U.S. militaries said. Tokyo said the flight pattern could indicate a new type of missile.

The launch jeopardizes new South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s willingness for dialogue with the North, and came as U.S., Japanese and European navies gather for joint war games in the Pacific.

“The president expressed deep regret over the fact that this reckless provocation … occurred just days after a new government was launched in South Korea,” senior presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan said. “The president said we are leaving open the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, but we should sternly deal with a provocation to prevent North Korea from miscalculating.”

Moon, South Korea’s first liberal leader in nearly a decade, said as he took his oath of office last week that he’d be willing to visit the North if the circumstances were right.

President Donald Trump has also said he’d be “honored” to talk with leader Kim Jong Un under favorable conditions. But on Sunday, the Trump administration seemed to throw cold water on the idea of talks with North Korea.

“Having a missile test is not the way to sit down with the president, because he’s absolutely not going to do it,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told ABC’s “This Week.”

She said it was time to “send a strong, unified message that this is unacceptable, and I think you’ll see the international community do that.”

While it wasn’t immediately clear what type of missile was launched, the U.S. Pacific Command said that “the flight is not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile.”

North Korea’s past satellite rocket launches have been called clandestine tests of ICBM technology, but it is not believed to have tested a true intercontinental ballistic missile yet.

Japanese officials said the missile flew for about 30 minutes, traveling about 800 kilometers (500 miles) and reaching an unusually high altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).

David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the missile could have a range of 4,500 kilometers (about 2,800 miles) if flown on a standard, instead of a lofted, trajectory — considerably longer than Pyongyang’s current missiles. He said Sunday’s launch — the seventh such firing by North Korea this year — may have been of a new mobile, two-stage liquid-fueled missile North Korea displayed in a huge April 15 military parade.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters that the launch was “absolutely unacceptable” and that Japan would respond resolutely. Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said he and his South Korean counterpart agreed that “dialogue for dialogue’s sake with North Korea is meaningless.”

The White House took note of the missile landing close to Russia’s Pacific coast and said in a statement that North Korea has been “a flagrant menace for far too long.”

The statement said Washington maintains its “ironclad commitment” to stand with its allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea. The latest “provocation” should serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against the North, it said.

Outside militaries and experts will closely analyze what the North fired. While Pyongyang regularly tests shorter-range missiles, it is also working to master the technology needed to field nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. Past North Korean missiles have flown farther than Sunday’s test, landing closer to Japan, but this launch follows a series of high-profile failures.

Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said North Korea might have launched a “new type of missile,” given the altitude and duration of its flight. But she said more analysis was needed.

Inada’s remarks suggest the missile might have been on a “lofted” trajectory, meaning it could have a far longer range than it actually flew. Japan’s Kyodo News agency, citing unidentified sources, said the missile may be capable of covering a range as far as 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) if launched at a normal trajectory.

Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni said the G-7 summit his country is hosting later this month would discuss how to deal with the risk North Korea’s missile launchings pose to global security.

“It’s a serious problem for global stability and security, and I’m convinced that the upcoming G-7, in friendship, will contribute to resolving this issue,” he said in Beijing.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile was fired early Sunday morning from near Kusong, in North Phyongan province.

The Trump administration has called North Korean ballistic and nuclear efforts unacceptable and has swung between threats of military action and offers to talk as it formulates a policy.

The North’s state media said Saturday that the nation would bolster its nuclear capability unless the United States abandons its hostile policy.

“The United States should never expect us to give up our nuclear capability,” the main Rodong newspaper said in a commentary carried by the Korean Central News Agency. It said President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure and engagement” policy is only aimed at “stifling us” and will compel the North to “strengthen our nuclear deterrent at the maximum speed.”

The launch came as troops from the U.S., Japan and two European nations gather near Guam for drills that are partly a message to North Korea. The USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft supercarrier, is also engaging with South Korean navy ships in waters off the Korean Peninsula, according to Seoul’s Defense Ministry.

On Saturday, a top North Korean diplomat in charge of U.S. relations, Choe Son Hui, told reporters in Beijing that Pyongyang would be willing to meet with the Trump administration for negotiations “if the conditions are set.” She did not elaborate.</s>Alwaght- North Korea has test fired a ballistic missile which landed in the sea of Japan after flying over 700 kilometers, says South Korea.

"North Korea launched a ballistic missile at 5:27 am this morning in Pyongan Province," said the South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The US military tracked the launch, but said it was unlikely an intercontinental ballistic missile, calculating that the missile landed in water 60 miles south of Russia's port city of Vladivostok, CNN reported. Vladivostok is home to the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Following the launch, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, stressed that it was a violation of UN resolutions and that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had severely condemned it. "North Korea's repeated missile launches are a grave threat to our country and a clear violation of UN resolutions," said Abe.

Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said that the projectile may be a new type of missile, which reached an altitude of more than 2,000 kilometers before falling in the Sea of Japan.

The US Pacific Command has also confirmed that Pyongyang has carried out another missile launch. "US Pacific Command detected and tracked a North Korean missile launch," said an official statement, adding that the tested missile has still not been determined.

Newly elected South Korean President Moon Jae-In also condemned the launch as a "reckless provocation.” "The president... expressed deep regret over the North's reckless provocation staged only days after the beginning of the new administration in the South," said spokesman.

Tensions have been on the rise on the Korean Peninsula over the past weeks.

Unsettled by North Korean missile and military nuclear programs, the United States has adopted a war-like posture, sending a strike group and conducting joint military drills with North Korea’s regional adversaries Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang defends its missile and nuclear programs as a means of protecting the country from US hostility.

This US Navy handout photo obtained April 25, 2017 shows the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as it transits the Philippine Sea while conducting a bilateral exercise with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippine Sea.

In addition to a naval strike group, which includes the large USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, Washington deployed two supersonic bombers over the peninsula during a joint exercise with South Korea’s air force on Monday. The USS Michigan nuclear submarine joined the strike group earlier this week.

In April, the US also deployed a THAAD missile system in South Korea rising tensions over North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear tests.</s>Nikki Haley, US Ambassador to the United Nations, called the launch early on Sunday morning local time a message by Pyongyang to South Korea after the election of President Moon Jae-in, who took office on Wednesday. She said: ”You first have to get into Kim Jong-Un's head - which is, he's in a state of paranoia, he's incredibly concerned about anything and everything around him.” Mrs Haley added the United States will "continue to tighten the screws" on North Korea, mentioning sanctions and working with the international community to put pressure on Pyongyang. On Monday morning, North Korea claimed it succeeded in launching a ground-to-ground intermediate ballistic missile.

Japanese Defence Minister tommy Inada said the missile could be a new type compared to the five other unsuccessful nuclear tests carried out by North Korea since 2006, with two of them in the past year. He revealed it flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea’s east coast and Japan, in the same direction North Korea consistently fires missiles.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said initial assessments showed the missile landed 60miles (97km) south of Russia's Vladivostok region. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said his boss and Chinese President Xi Jinxing had discussed the situation and expressed “mutual concerns” about growing tensions”. The missile flew 430miles (700km) and reached an altitude of more than 2,000km (1,245 miles), according to officials in South Korea and Japan, further and higher than an intermediate-range missile North Korea successfully tested in February from the same region of Kusong, northwest of its capital Pyongyang.

Mrs Haley was speaking at a National Security Council meeting called by Moon Jae-in in response to the launch, which he called a "clear violation" of UN Security Council resolutions, his office said. The UN Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss the launch, diplomats said on Sunday. The US military's Pacific Command said it was assessing the type of missile that was fired but it was "not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile". The US threat assessment has not changed from a national security standpoint, a US official said.

An intercontinental ballistic missile is considered to have a range of more than 3,700 miles(6,000km). The White House mentioned Russia in its earlier statement about the launch. It said: ”With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil - in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan - the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased.” The launch served as a call for all nations to implement stronger sanctions against North Korea, it added.

North Korea is widely believed to be developing an intercontinental missile tipped with a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States, something Mr Trump has vowed not to let happen. Experts said the altitude reached by the missile tested on Sunday morning meant it was launched at a high trajectory, which would limit the lateral distance it travelled. But if it was fired at a standard trajectory, it would have a range of at least 2,500miles (4,000km), experts said.
U.S. and South Korean officials confirm that North Korea launched a test missile from the west coast city of Kusong. The projectile travelled to the east for 30 minutes and 435 miles (700 km) reaching an altitude of more than 1,245 miles (2,004 km) before landing in the Sea of Japan, 60 miles (97 km) south of the Russian city of Vladivostok.