North Korea has fired a short-range Scud-class ballistic missile that landed in the sea off its east coast. The missile flew about 450 km (280 miles).
The missile reached an altitude of 120 km (75 miles).
North Korea, which has conducted dozens of missile tests and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of 2016 in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, says the programme is necessary to counter US aggression.
Japan lodged a protest against the North’s latest missile launch, which appeared to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.