(VOVworld) – The Korean Central News Agency said on Monday that North Korea had successfully test-fired a Pukguksong-2 ballistic missile one day earlier. On Sunday, South Korea’s Ministry of Defense said it detected a missile being fired from Banghyon air base Pyongan province, North Korea. The missile then flew eastward before splashing down in the Japanese waters.

People watched a news broadcast about North Korea's missile test at a Seoul station on Sunday. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Many countries have voiced their condemnation of the missile test. South Korea’s government on Monday called for an emergency meeting to assess the test’s effects on South Korea’s economy and the international financial markets.

The European Union criticized the test, calling it provocative and unacceptable, a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a short statement declaring that North Korea’s missile test violated international law and reaffirming France’s commitment to Asian-Pacific countries whose security is threatened by North Korea’s missile programs. White House adviser Stephen Miller said the US will stand with its allies in the region to address the North Korean menace. Italy said Pyongyang’s repeated missile tests threaten world peace and Pyongyang must end activities which provoke the international community.

Japan condemned the recent missile test by North Korea. Leaders of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) called on the government to place harsher sanctions on Pyongyang.