Japan’s prime minister vowed to take “specific action” after North Korea launched another missile that plunged into the Sea of Japan, the latest provocation from the regime’s bellicose leader Kim Jong Un.

“As we agreed at the recent G7, the issue of North Korea is a top priority for the international community,” Shinzo Abe said in a televised address Monday.

“Working with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North Korea.”

It also lodged a protest against the test-firing of the missile, the third this month as Pyongyang ramps up its efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

China and Russia condemned the rocket firing but called for restraint.

Saying the UN Security Council has “clear rules” about the use of missiles, China urged North Korea not to violate them.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is complex and sensitive, and we hope all relevant sides maintain calm and exercise restraint, ease the tense situation as soon as possible and put the issue back onto the correct track of peaceful dialogue,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Kremlin called on countries in the region to refrain from “military activity,” a Russian news agency quoted the deputy foreign minister as saying.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office May 10, said Kim’s continuing military provocations are threatening peace in the region and called for a meeting of his country’s security council.

The White House said President Trump was briefed on the launch and the US Pacific Command tracked the missile and decided it was no threat to America.

The Trump administration has ordered a Navy strike force led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the waters off the Korean peninsula and has asked China to press North Korea on curbing its military ambitions.

North Korea, which also tested two nuclear devices last year, fired a short-range ballistic missile that flew about 280 miles and reached an altitude of about 75 miles, South Korea’s military said.

Defense Secretary James Mattis on Sunday encouraged a diplomatic rather than military response, saying war with North Korea would be “catastrophic.”

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” Mattis said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” referring to Seoul. “But the bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

With Post wires