The United States and Japan denounced the unprecedented, grave threat to Japan's security. Both countries agreed to call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the situation.
Officials in South Korea say the missile may have flown further than any other tested by North Korea. The test, one of the most provocative yet from the reclusive state, sent a clear message to Washington just weeks after Kim Jong-un threatened to target the US Pacific territory of Guam.
The US yesterday (NZ time) proposed the Security Council agree on a statement condemning the missile launch and implore all states to strictly, fully and expeditiously implement US sanctions on Pyongyang.
Already, Pyongyang is under tight restrictions. Only China is providing any identifiable help by selling North Korea oil and buying coal.
It is obvious other aid is being filtered through from other countries, allowing President Kim to risk the wrath of the world.
Condemning North Korea ''for its outrageous actions and threats'' is not going to work anytime soon.
There has to be another way to solve one of the most vexing issues on the planet.
North Korea can now send a missile as far as the East Coast of the US. Japan is firmly in its range.
Just what it takes for President Kim to be provoked enough to send a live missile into a land mass has yet to be determined, but his constant showing of strength is more than concerning.
President Kim appears unhinged and a believer in his own press. He has assassinated family members who have not agreed with him - or threatened his reign as leader.
China has called for restraint and warns the situation on the Korean peninsula has reached a tipping point approaching crisis.
China blames US President Donald Trump and South Korea for the escalation of tensions. Days before the missile launch, the US and South Korea held military exercises within full view of North Korea. The launch of the missile may have been a show of defiance towards the military drills.
Reports from North Korea indicate millions of people are starving as poor weather has wiped out crops. The regime's elite manage to survive well by importing luxury food and goods from Europe.
Perhaps it is time for the philosophy to change and for kindness to be extended to the people of North Korea. Brainwashed as they are, human nature accepts kindness, eventually. Gifts of food could be a start.
If President Kim is going to ignore UN sanctions, which are likely to be blocked by permanent veto members China and Russia, then kindness may be a better option. Surely, there is nothing left to lose.
The regime is brutal and is throwing its own citizens into cruel camps. Those who escape talk about the deprivation where families are forced to eat grass and whatever else they can find.
President Kim wants to increase tourism to the country as a way of bringing in valuable foreign exchange. However, the number of tourists who have been imprisoned because of alleged offences continues to grow. Only the bravest, or most stupid, would now venture into North Korea.
South Korea does not want unification because of the flood of people from the North it would bring. As in Germany, the poorer East became a problem for the West as the German government had to pour money into ailing infrastructure and try to find jobs for the flood of people moving west for a better life.
Two countries, one language and a shared heritage is what faces the Korean peninsula.
Flooding the North with food and aid has to be a worthy attempt at breaking down the repressive regime. Nothing else is working.
