A suspected North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired on Thursday afternoon landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone, west of the country's north coast, the government said.

"Our current analysis indicates that the ballistic missile flew for 71 minutes and around 15:44 (0644 GMT), it landed in waters within Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan about 150 kilometres west of Hokkaido's Oshima peninsula," said Makoto Oniki, Japan's state minister for defence.

"Given the ballistic missile this time around flew at an altitude of over 6,000 km, which was much higher than the Hwasong-15 ICBM that was launched in November 2017, the one today is believed to be a new ICBM," he added.

He said that the ministry had not received any reports of damage to ships or planes, calling the launch a "serious threat" to Japan's security.

"At a time when the world is dealing with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is pressing ahead with launches that unilaterally aggravate provocations against the international community, which is absolutely unforgivable," Oniki said.