President Donald Trump called for tougher sanctions against North Korea after it fired a ballistic missile Sunday in an apparent bid to test the South's new liberal president and the US. 


"Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea," the White House said in a brief statement. 


The missile flew more than 700 kilometres (435 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) surrounded by the Korean peninsula, Japan and the Russian far east. 


It impacted "so close to Russian soil ... the president cannot imagine that Russia is pleased," the White House said. 


North Korea "has been a flagrant menace for far too long," it said. 


Multiple sets of UN and US sanctions against North Korea have done little to deter Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear and missile ambitions.
Trump has threatened military action against the North but recently appeared to have softened his stance, saying he would be "honoured" to meet leader Kim Jong-Un under the right conditions.
New South Korean President Moon Jae-In, who was inaugurated on Wednesday, slammed the missile test as a "reckless provocation" after holding an emergency meeting with national security advisors

Source: NNA