North Korea is currently holding a major party meeting in Pyongyang at which Kim and other senior party officials are outlining their policy goals for 2023 in key areas including diplomacy, security and the economy.

This is the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests this year.

Poland and other Western states have said the missile that landed in Przewodow, a village near the border with Ukraine, was a Ukrainian air defence missile that went astray in pursuit of a Russian missile.

An intercontinental ballistic missile is North Korea's longest-range weapon and is designed to carry a nuclear warhead as far as any location in the continental US.

Nato member Poland had said a rocket killed two people in eastern Poland near Ukraine, and it summoned Russia's ambassador for an explanation after Russia denied it was responsible.

The launch comes four days after North and South Korea exchanged warning shots off the west coast amid heightened military tension.

This is the seventh such launch by Pyongyang in recent days.

North Korea says the tests have not harmed the safety of neighbouring countries and regions.

It wasn't the start of a war, but a South Korean display of military force that went wrong in a blaze of burning rocket fuel.

The Japanese government warned citizens to take cover as the missile appeared to have flown over and past its territory before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

The court has said a verdict is not expected until November 2022 at the earliest.

Satellite imagery indicates North Korea may also be preparing to resume nuclear testing, with the US State Department on Friday warning a test could come 'as early as this month'.