The United States has called for a meeting Friday of the UN Security Council on North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch.

North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea early Friday in defiance of council resolutions banning such launches. The U.S. Mission to the United Nations says it asked for closed consultations on the launch after a council meeting Friday afternoon on Burundi.

The latest test follows a recent order by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for weapons tests linked to the country's pursuit of a long-range nuclear missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.