UN Security Council condemns 'highly provocative' North Korea missile launch

The UN Security Council on Saturday strongly condemned "highly provocative" launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea and demanded that the reclusive nation immediately halt such "outrageous" actions.

The Security Council's reaction came a day after North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile from Pyongyang over northern Japan on Thursday.

In a statement, the Security Council said the launch was carried out just three weeks after a first missile overflew Japan and less than two weeks after Pyongyang's sixth and biggest nuclear test.

"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned these launches, condemned further North Korea for its outrageous actions, and demanded that North Korea immediately cease all such actions," the Security Council said in a statement after an emergency meeting.

The emergency meeting of Security Council was convened at the request of Japan and the US. The 15-member body stressed that these actions were not just a threat to the region, but to all UN Member States.

"The United Kingdom stands with the people of Japan in face of this terrible, egregious, illegal, provocative, reckless act by the North Korean regime, which once again demonstrates their complete disregard for the sovereignty and the citizens of one of their neighbours," the British ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft told reporters after the meeting of the Security Council.

Earlier this week, the UN Security Council agreed to tighten sanctions on North Korea, banning its textile exports and capping fuel supplies.

North Korea has launched dozens of missiles under Kim Jong Un's leadership to accelerate weapons programme designed to give it the ability to target the United States with a powerful, nuclear-tipped missile.