Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) on Saturday condemned “in the strongest terms” North Korea’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile into the sea off Japan’s west coast, saying it required a united response from international community.

“This action constitutes a flagrant violation of UN Security Council resolutions and threatens regional and international peace and security,” the foreign ministers said in their statement after their meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

“North Korea’s reckless behavior requires a united response from the international community, including additional significant measures to be taken by the UN Security Council,” the G7 foreign ministers also emphasize in their statement.

The United States earlier strongly condemned the launch of the ballistic missile, and declared that it would take all necessary measures to protect the US and its allies in the region.

Her statement Adrienne Watson, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the missile, which was fired into the sea off Japan’s western coast, did not pose an immediate threat but raised tensions in the region.

“The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of American soil and its allies the Republic of Korea and Japan.”he said.

Today the long-range missile was launched from the Sunan region near Pyongyang, the general staff of South Korea’s armed forces announced. Sunan is home to Pyongyang International Airport, where North Korea has conducted most of its recent ICBM tests.