The South’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the US military are analysing the launch.
Japan has issued a siren alert warning citizens to take shelter, according to Japanese and South Korean news reports.
Japan didn’t attempt to shoot down the missile, which was launched at 6:57 a.m., according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
They reported that the missile likely flew over the Hokkaido region of Japan early on Friday morning.
Citizens have been warned that debris could still fall on the island nation.
Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, said in a statement: “We strongly protest the missile launch.
“We will take an appropriate response in contact with the US and South Korea.”
He added: “There is currently no evidence that missile fragments fell on Japanese territory.”
Last month, North Korea fired a missile over Japan in what Tokyo called an “unprecedented threat” to the country.
South Korean officials had said recently that intelligence reports indicated that the North Koreans planned to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Activity was spotted near to one of the launch pads yesterday morning and experts believe, due to the size of the weapon, it is large enough to fire a carry an ICBM class Hwasong-14 ballistic missile with a range of more than 10,000km (6,200 miles).
More to follow…