North Korea has launched yet another ballistic missile as the number of tests reaches seven this month - which is sure to cause tension across the world.
Kim Jong-un’s hermit kingdom army launched the weapon into the sea off its east coast at around 7.52am local time (10.52pm GMT) on Sunday.
It’s the nuclear-armed country's seventh test this month which is a record for the state.
The Japanese government said North Korea had launched a "possible ballistic missile," while South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the launch of an unidentified projectile.
"The ballistic missile launch and the ones before it are a threat to our country, the region and the international community," Japanese government spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a televised briefing.
"This series of launches violate UN resolutions and we strongly protest this action by North Korea."
Matsuno said that if the projectile was a standard ballistic missile it is estimated to have reached an altitude of 2,000km, flown for 30 minutes, to a distance of 800km.
It makes January the busiest ever for North Korea's missile programme.
Analysts say the country’s weapon tests are increasing and developing new capabilities despite strict sanctions and United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban the country's ballistic missile tests.
In an address ahead of the New Year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called for bolstering the military with cutting edge technology at a time when talks with South Korea and the United States have stalled.
Since then, North Korea has conducted a series of launches displaying a dizzying array of weapon types, launch locations, and increasing sophistication.
From hypersonic missiles and long-range cruise missiles to missiles launched from railcars and airports, the tests highlight the nuclear-armed state's rapidly expanding and advancing arsenal amid stalled denuclearisation talks.
North Korea has not tested its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons since 2017, but the country's rulers suggested this month they could restart those activities.
Its latest launches included a test of two short-range ballistic missiles and their warheads on Thursday, and an update to a long-range cruise missile system was tested on Tuesday.
The tests appear aimed at bolstering national pride ahead of several major North Korean holidays and sending a message of strength, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.
"The Kim regime hears external discussions of its domestic weaknesses and sees South Korea's growing strength," he said.
"So it wants to remind Washington and Seoul that trying to topple it would be too costly."
Pyongyang has defended the launches as its sovereign right of self defence.
It says they are not directed at any specific country, but accused Washington and Seoul of having "hostile policies”.
Kim visited a munitions factory last week, where he called for "an all-out drive" to produce "powerful cutting-edge arms”.
He touted his devotion to "smashing ... the challenges of the US imperialists and their vassal forces" seeking to violate their right to self-defence, calling it "the harshest-ever adversity”.
