The United States condemned North Korea on Friday after the reclusive regime fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile.
Japanese officials have said the missile landed just 200 km (130 miles) off Japan and had sufficient range to reach the mainland of the United States.
"This launch is a brazen violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region," a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said.
"The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement," the spokesperson added in a statement.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)