Kim Jong-Un has fired a ballistic missile 500 miles into the Sea of Japan in the latest show of force amid tensions with the US.

The launch took place in the Kusong region located northwest of the capital, Pyongyang, where the North previously test-launched an intermediate-range missile it is believed to be developing.

A US official told CNN the missile landed in water 60 miles south of Russia's Vladivostok region, home of the Russian Pacific Fleet - although the Russian defense ministry said it had landed 310 miles off the coast.

Kim Jong-Un is pictured visiting a tools and utensils exhibition in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 13

The launch took place in the Kusong region located northwest of the capital, Pyongyang. A US official said the missile landed in water 60 miles south of Russia's Vladivostok region

The projectile was launched at around 5.30am, according to South Korea's Joint Chief of Staff.

'The South and US are analyzing more details about the missile,' it said in a statement without elaborating.

US Pacific Command says the flight was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Japan's defense minister Tomomi Inada told reporters there is a possibility that it was a new type of ballistic missile, saying it flew Sunday for about 30 minutes and at an altitude exceeding 1,240 miles. She says more analysis was needed.

Japanese officials said the missile landed in the Sea of Japan but outside the country's exclusive economic zone.

Kim Dong-yub, an expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said he estimated a standard trajectory firing would give it a range of 3,700 miles, meaning it would be capable of reaching Hawaii.

The launch is the first in two weeks since the last attempt ended in a failure just minutes into flight.

A South Korean man watches a television displaying news broadcasts reporting on North Korea's recent ballistic missile launch, at a station in Seoul, South Korea on May 14 May

The White House issued a statement Saturday night saying President Donald Trump has been briefed on the latest missile test (Trump is pictured on May 13 on the South Lawn of the White House

LATEST NORTH KOREAN MISSILE The U.S. Pacific Command said it was assessing the type of missile but it was 'not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile'. Japanese Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said the missile could be of a new type. The missile flew 430 miles and reached an altitude of more than 1,245 miles, according to officials in South Korea and Japan, further and higher than an intermediate-range missile North Korea successfully tested in February from the same region of Kusong, northwest of its capital, Pyongyang. Other reports claim the missile traveled 500 miles. North Korea is widely believed to be developing an intercontinental missile tipped with a nuclear weapon that is capable of reaching the United States. Experts said Sunday's test showed a considerably longer range than missiles North Korea had previously tested, meaning it had likely made improvements since its February test. The reported altitude would indicate the missile was launched at a high trajectory. David Wright, co-director of the UCS Global Security Program and a missile expert, said if the missile had been fired at a standard trajectory, it would have had a maximum range of about 2,800 miles. Kim Dong-yub, an expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, said he estimated a standard trajectory firing would give it a range of 3,700 miles, meaning it would be capable of reaching Hawaii. An intercontinental ballistic missile is considered to have a range of more than 3,700 miles. Japan said the missile flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea's east coast and Japan. The North has consistently test-fired missiles in that direction. 'If that report ... is correct, then the launch may indeed represent a new missile with a long range," said Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, referring the estimated altitude of more than 1,245 miles. 'It is definitely concerning,' McDowell said. Advertisement

The North attempted but failed to test-launch ballistic missiles four consecutive times in the past two months but has conducted a variety of missile testing since the beginning of last year at an unprecedented pace.

Weapons experts and government officials believe the North has accomplished some technical progress with those tests.

The launch is the first since a new liberal president took office in South Korea on Wednesday saying dialogue as well as pressure must be used to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and stop the North's weapons pursuit.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In strongly condemned rival North Korea's missile test-launch as a 'clear' violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a 'serious challenge' to international peace and security.

According to senior presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan, Moon expressed 'deep regret' over the fact this 'provocation' occurred just days after a new government was sworn in in South Korea.

Yoon quoted Moon as saying South Korea is 'leaving open the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, but we should sternly deal with a provocation to prevent North Korea from miscalculating'.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe slammed the missile launch as 'totally unacceptable' and a 'grave threat' to Tokyo.

'We strongly protest against North Korea, he said.

The White House issued a statement Saturday night saying President Donald Trump has been briefed on the latest missile test.

'With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil - in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan - the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased.

'North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long. South Korea and Japan have been watching this situation closely with us.

'The United States maintains our ironclad commitment to stand with our allies in the face of the serious threat posed by North Korea. Let this latest provocation serve as a call for all nations to implement far stronger sanctions against North Korea.'

A Kremlin spokesman said the 'missile launch posed no danger to the Russian Federation.'

But a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is currently in Beijing on a two-day visit, said he had expressed concerns about the launch.

Ballistic missiles are displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang in this April 15 picture

The missile launch comes amid claims from Kim Jong-Un's spokesman that he is willing to talk to the US.

Choe Son Hui declared that North Korea was willing to talk to the Trump administration under the 'right conditions'.

When asked if North Korea was also preparing to talk with the new government in South Korea, of liberal President Moon, Choe said: 'We'll see.'

Choe Son Hui made the comment to reporters in Beijing as she was travelling from Norway back to North Korea, Yonhap news agency said.

Choi did not elaborate on what the North's conditions are, but her comments raise the possibility of North Korea and the US returning to negotiations for the first time since 2008, when six-nation talks over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program fell apart.

President Trump opened the door this month to talks, saying he would be 'honored' to meet Kim Jong-Un.

Trump warned in an interview with Reuters in late April that a 'major, major conflict' with the North was possible, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute over its nuclear and missile programs.

Senior North Korean diplomat Choe Son Hui said 'we will have dialogue if the conditions are there', on Saturday

South Korean President Moon Jae-In (pictured on Thursday) strongly condemned rival North Korea's missile test-launch

The latest launch also comes as troops from the US, Japan and two European nations gather on remote US islands in the Pacific for drills that are partly a message to North Korea.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea.

The cruiser USS Lake Champlain, which collided with a South Korean fishing boat during training exercises on Tuesday in the Sea of Japan, is participating in joint drills with South Korea's Navy near the peninsula as part of the Carl Vinson Strike Group amid tensions with North Korea.

Other ships including the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, and Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy are also participating in the drills.

Just last week it was announced that Japan was sending its largest warship to protect a US vessel as it resupplied the strike group.