US and South Korea hold joint missile drills

The United States and South Korea have staged a joint military exercise on Tuesday in response to Pyongyang's latest missile test.

Troops of the two countries fired missiles into the waters off South Korea in a show of force after North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test.

TRT World's Nafisa Latic has more on the escalation.

Russia and China involvement

Meanwhile, Russia and China said they oppose any attempt to resolve tensions by force or by strangling North Korea economically.

"The task of the denuclearization of the entire Korean peninsula cannot and should not be used as a disguise for attempts to change North Korea's regime. This is our common position," Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on Wednesday.

In an official statement, North Korea said: "The test launch was conducted at the sharpest angle possible and did not have any negative effect on neighbouring countries."

The North also said its missile capability could now strike anywhere in the world.

Urgent UN meeting

South Korea's Foreign Ministry announced the UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday in New York to discuss Pyongyang's breach of previous resolutions.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned the launch as "yet another brazen violation of Security Council resolutions and constitutes a dangerous escalation of the situation."

"The DPRK leadership must cease further provocative actions and comply fully with its international obligations," he said in a statement published on the UN's website.