A UN spokesperson says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is 'deeply troubled' by the DPRK's recent missile launches.  One of the rockets landed near Japan waters for the first time.

"We are once again deeply troubled by the latest test firing of missiles by the Democratic Republic of Korea (DPRK), one of which reportedly landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone. Such actions seriously undermine regional peace and stability. We reiterate the call on the DPRK to heed the united call of the international community to reverse its course and return to the process of sincere dialogue," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The DPRK launched a ballistic missile on Wednesday. A Japanese defense official said the main body of the missile landed in Japan's economic exclusion zone. This has escalated regional tensions that were already high after a series of missile launches this year, and the decision by the US to place a sophisticated anti-missile system in South Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the launch as a "grave threat" to Japan, and said Tokyo "strongly protested". Japan also said its self-defense force would remain on alert in case of further launches.