North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile into Japan's territorial waters in the Sea of Japan, ensuring that it will be a topic of conversation at this week's G20 summit in Germany.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the launch "clearly shows that the threat has grown" and that he will use the summit in Hamburg to "call for solidarity of the international community on the North Korean issue".  The Japanese government says the launch is "absolutely unacceptable".

South Korean President Moon Jae-in immediately convened a national security council meeting.  He said the missile was believed to be an intermediate range type, but the South Korean military is analyzing data that might show it was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which would be a significant step up in Pyongyang's threat capacity.

North Korea launched it from a site near Panghyon airfield northwest of Pyongyang; it flew for 37 minutes, traveling about 930 kilometers to Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.  That's reportedly higher and longer than any North Korean missile test to date.

This comes as China, often seen as North Korea's only friend in the world, assumed the presidency of the UN Security Council.  Beijing's UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi had called for a easing of international tensions, which Pyongyang now seems to have ignored.

"Currently tensions are high and we certainly would like to see a de-escalation," Ambassador Liu said.  "If tension only goes up... then sooner or later it will get out of control and the consequences would be disastrous," he added.