N Korea fires missile into Sea of Japan

North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast yesterday, South Korea's military said, ahead of a summit between US and Chinese leaders who are set to discuss Pyongyang's increasingly defiant arms programme.

The missile flew about 60 km from its launch site at Sinpo, a port city on North Korea's east coast, the South Korean Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Sinpo is home to a North Korean submarine base.

The launch comes just a day before the start of a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida, where talks about adding pressure on the North to drop its arms development will take centre stage.

"The launch took place possibly in consideration of the US -China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability," a South Korean official told Reuters about the military's initial assessment of the launch. The missile was fired at a high angle and reached an altitude of 189 km, the official said.

Any launch of objects using ballistic missile technology is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The North has defied the ban, saying it infringes on its sovereign rights to self-defence and the pursuit of space exploration.

The launch drew swift condemnation from Japan, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saying further provocative action was possible.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the launch as "extremely problematic" and said Tokyo had lodged a strong protest.

South Korea's foreign ministry also condemned the launch as a blunt challenge to a series of UN Security Council resolutions targeting North Korea's nuclear and missile programme. Seoul called a National Security Council meeting and vowed to respond strongly in case of further provocations.

In a terse statement, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."