The latest test was also the North's first launch since a controversial USA missile defence system deployed in the South became operational on May 2 and follows a failed April 29 ballistic missile test.
"North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long".
"North Korea fired an unidentified missile at around 5.27 a.m. today (Sunday) from an area in the vicinity of Kusong, North Pyongan province", Yonhap News Agency quoted the JCS as saying in a statement.
South Korean and USA military officials said the February launch was a significant development as it successfully tested a solid-fuel engine from a mobile launcher.
It was his second appearance before reporters Sunday after North Korea fired the missile that Japanese officials say may have been a new type given its flight time and unusually high altitude.
However, the US President has also said he is open to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programmes.
The launch served as a call for all nations to implement stronger sanctions against North Korea, it added.
Shen Dingli, a professor of worldwide relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, says North Korea conducted the test to show its "determination to develop nuclear weapons and missiles remains unchanged".
Syrian Kurdish official praises United States decision to provide arms
US officials have indicated that 120 mm mortars, machine guns, ammunition and light armored vehicles were possibilities. The fall of Tabqa leaves no other major urban settlements on the road to Raqqa, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away.
The statement says the US maintains its "ironclad commitment" to stand with its allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea.
Japan said the missile flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea's east coast and Japan.
Moon instructed the Joint Chiefs of Staff to hold an emergency meeting. And it says South Korea and Japan have been watching this situation closely with the U.S.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the latest launch "absolutely unacceptable" and said that repeated missile tests by Pyongyang were a "severe threat to our country" and a clear contravention of United Nations resolutions. Moon called the launch a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions and said he will deal resolutely against such provocations while leaving the door open for dialogue.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed Pyongyang for again violating the UN Security Council resolutions. 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.
Choi said Pyongyang would be willing to meet with the Trump administration for negotiations "if the conditions are set", briefly to reporters en route to Pyongyang. 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 Defence Ministry.
Moon had said in his inauguration speech that he was willing to visit Pyongyang "in the right circumstances" to defuse tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Shotaro Yachi, Abe's top security adviser, also had a call with US national security adviser H.R. McMaster, Abe also told reporters.
Comments