North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile Saturday in apparent defiance of a concerted USA push for tougher global sanctions to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions.
South Korean and USA intelligence officials are trying to determine the type of missile used by North Korea for this launch.
Separately, Trump's national security adviser, Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, said North Korea's most recent missile test represents "open defiance of the global community".
On April 16, North Korea's attempt to launch a missile on its east coast had apparently failed.
Analysts say the KN-17 is a new Scud-type missile developed by North Korea.
"Obviously, if it is inland, it is going to be launched over potentially populated areas, so there is a certain amount of confidence there, that it is not going to fail, that it is going to fly over those populated areas out to sea before it crashes".
But the country has so far refrained from conducting a nuclear test or launching one of its intercontinental ballistic missiles under development to mark major anniversaries in April.
Front-runner Moon Jae-in of the liberal Democratic Party issued a statement urging North Korea to immediately stop its "reckless provocations" and choose the path to cooperation with the worldwide community, including by abandoning its nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump, who told Reuters in an interview on Thursday North Korea was his biggest global challenge, said the launch was an affront to China.
February 12: North Korea tests a new midrange ballistic missile in its first major challenge to Trump as president.
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The Washington Post also reported that the conditions for direct dialogue between North Korea and the United States appear to be not exchanging economic benefits for a freeze on North Korea's nuclear program but rather aimed at completely eliminating the North's nuclear arsenal.
China's foreign ministry has yet to confirm these remarks, although Beijing remains committed to employing sanctions imposed under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, told the 15-member council it was not only up to China to solve the North Korean problem.
"The key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side", Wang said.
Japan has protested the latest missile launch by North Korea.
The USS Carl Vinson is heading north toward the Korean peninsula in a show of force after satellite images suggested North Korea may be preparing to conduct a nuclear test.
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged the global community to increase pressure on North Korea, saying that failing to do so would bring "catastrophic consequences". The KN-17 is a land-based solid-fuel missile fired from a mobile launcher. The latest test came as USA officials pivoted from a hard line to diplomacy at the U.N.in an effort to address what may be Washington's most pressing foreign policy challenge.
"It's possible that something could be sped up", the official said of the potential for imposing a limited package of targeted sanctions on North Korea.
World powers are mulling further sanctions on the isolated nation, but previous rounds have done to little to deter Kim Jong Un's nuclear ambitions.
Moon has been critical of the deployment of an advanced United States missile defense system in the South meant to counter North Korea's missile threat, which China also strongly objects to.
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