North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Saturday in a “surprise” drill to confirm the weapon’s reliability, state media said.
It flew over 900km (560 miles) for 67 minutes and landed in the Sea of Japan.
Pyongyang said the test showed it was capable of countering hostile forces like the US and South Korea.
It comes ahead of joint exercises between Washington and Seoul next month, designed to help fend off North Korea’s increasing nuclear threats.
Authorities in Pyongyang have threatened to unleash an “unprecedently strong” retaliation to any such drills – which it insists are being done in preparation to invade North Korea.
This was reinforced early on Sunday by Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who said any hostile acts would be met with a “strong and overwhelming” response. She also urged the US to end what she called “threats” against the regime.
But she added that the South Korean capital, Seoul, would not be targeted by North Korean missiles.
On Friday, North Korea showed off its massive military might in a parade that included more than a dozen ICBMs.
Saturday’s missile, which is the first to be launched since new year’s day, splashed down west of Hokkaido, in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) at 18:27 (09:27 GMT), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. An EEZ is an area of the sea that a country has jurisdiction over. Japan’s is a 200-nautical mile area off its coast.
It reached an altitude of 5,700km (3,510 miles), government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said in Tokyo. While that is incredibly high – the edge of space is about 100km – it is not the highest a North Korean missile has flown.