World leaders have responded to the latest missile launch by North Korea, as US, Japanese and South Korean officials confirmed the hermit kingdom had fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea.
The missile launch came just days before US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were expected to discuss Pyongyang's nuclear program on Thursday and Friday in Florida.
On Wednesday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Japan "strongly condemns" the missile launch.
"It is a grave act of provocation to (Japan's) national security and something we cannot tolerate," Abe said, calling the launch "a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions."
Following a meeting of South Korea's National Security Council, Acting President Hwang Kyo Ahn's office said it would respond strongly to any further provocations by North Korea.
A statement from South Korea's foreign ministry denounced the launch as a "blatant" challenge to UN Security Council resolutions against North Korea.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued a terse response to Wednesday's missile launch, saying, "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea."
North Korea fired a "projectile" around 6.40 am Wednesday into the East Sea - also known as the Sea of Japan - from near Sinpo in South Hamgyong province, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The projectile flew approximately 60 kilometres, the chiefs said.
When the US and Chinese presidents meet in Florida later this week, Trump is expected to pressure Xi to use China's economic leverage to push North Korea on its nuclear program, White House officials said.
