North Korea conducted a missile test on Thursday with projectiles from the launch landing just 170 kilometers west Japan's northern coast, according to the country's vice defense minister Makoto Oniki.
Oniki said the missile flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers, suggesting it was a "new type of ICBM."
Outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in condemned the launch, saying it was a, "violation of the ban on intercontinental ballistic missile testing and "poses a serious threat to the Korean peninsula, the region and the international community."
The US Defense Department confirmed that earlier tests by the North conducted on February 27 and March 5 were likely testing a new ICBM system; the largest of its type by pariah state.
Thursday's launch, however, was the first long-range ballistic missile test the North has attempted since 2017.
The U.S. administration condemned the apparent provocation, calling it a “a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions" and vowing to protect the safety of its allies in the region.
On March 16, North Korea launched a suspected missile that appeared to explode in the skies over Pyongyang shortly after liftoff.
North Korea's Kim Jong Un had previously said his country was in the process of launching satellites for monitoring the US military.