North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea and the US military.

The development comes just days after North Korea threatened to retaliate if the global community expanded sanctions targeting the country.

South Korea’s defence ministry said the missile had flown about 60km on Wednesday. It was launched from the Sinpo region on North Korea’s eastern coast.

“The military is keeping a close watch over North Korea’s provocative moves and maintaining a high defence posture”, it said.

The US military said it was a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile which it had determined posed no threat to the US mainland.

Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, confirmed that North Korea had launched “yet another” intermediate-range ballistic missile.

“The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment,” he said in a statement.

Japan condemned the launch and said it violated UN Security Council resolutions.

“Japan never tolerates North Korea’s repeated provocative actions. The government strictly protested and strongly condemned it,” Yoshihide Suga, the chief cabinet secretary, said.