N Korea hails successful missile test

North Korea yesterday said its test-firing of a precision-guided ballistic missile was a success, a day after the projectile landed in waters provocatively close to Japan.

The North's leader Kim Jong-Un had supervised the launch of the "new-type precision-guided ballistic rocket", the official KCNA news agency reported.

It was the third missile test by the nuclear-armed regime in less than three weeks, defying UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.

"The ballistic rocket flew toward the east sky where the day broke and correctly hit a planned target point... after flying over the middle shooting range," KCNA said.

South Korea's military has said the Scud-type missile travelled eastward for 450 km. Japan said it believed it had fallen into its exclusive economic zone.

The missile test triggered swift condemnation from Trump who said it showed "disrespect" for neighbouring China, the North's sole major ally, which has sought to ease tensions over Pyongyang's weapons programme.

Following North Korea's test-firing earlier this month of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang.