BRUSSELS (Reuters) – North Korea’s launch of a missile over Japan on Tuesday was a “reckless and deliberately provocative action” that violated U.N. security council resolutions, a European Union spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“The DPRK must cease missile launches, refrain from a nuclear test and engage in meaningful dialogue with the United States, the Republic of Korea and other members of the international community,” the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs and security said in a statement, referring to the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

The statement called for the U.N. Security Council to respond to the “growing threat to international and regional peace and security” posed by such actions.

Earlier on Tuesday, nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile farther than ever before, sending it soaring over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting a warning for residents there to take cover.

Reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels; Editing by Matthew Lewis

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