The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered officials to push for strong sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) after Yonhap News Agency reported that the latter fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday.

During an emergency national security council meeting, Yoon also called for implementation of strengthened and extended deterrence to counter the DPRK's threats, his office said in a statement.

The ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to Yonhap, said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in DPRK's Pyongyang at 10:15 am local time. Japan's Coast Guard also reported the launch and said that so far there had been no reports of damage to ships or aircraft.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Friday that the missile was believed to have fallen in the sea roughly 200 kilometers west of Hokkaido, calling the launch "absolutely unacceptable."

The United States condemned the DPRK on Friday after the latest move. "This launch is a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said.

The DPRK did not immediately respond to the reports and claims.

Misawa Air base, which hosts both Japanese and U.S. troops, briefly issued an order to seek cover, according to a post on the base's Facebook page.

The DPRK's last suspected ICBM test was on November 3, when it fired multiple missiles into the sea in what it said was a protest against allied military drills by the ROK and the United States.

Friday's launch would be the DPRK's eighth ICBM test this year, based on a tally from the U.S. State Department.

(Cover: A TV news report on DPRK's missile launch, at a railway station in Seoul, ROK, November 2, 2022. /CFP)

(With input from Reuters)