North Korea confirmed the test hours before the UN security council unanimously condemned the launch.

The 15-member council described North Korea’s actions as “outrageous” and called for the full implementation of tough sanctions agreed less than a month ago.

However, the council did not recommend fresh measures against the regime, while saying it remained committed to a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.

“The security council stresses that these DPRK actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all UN member states,” it said, referring to the North by its official title the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The emergency meeting was called after a North Korean intermediate-range missile designed to carry a nuclear payload flew over northern Japan on Tuesday morning.

The missile, believed to be a relatively untested Hwasong-12, is the same type Kim has recently threatened to use against Guam, a key US military base located about 3,000km (1860 miles) southeast of North Korea.

North Korea’s state KCNA news agency said Kim had “personally guided” the missile, which came in response to military drills involving tens of thousands of troops from South Korea and the US.

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