Beijing was in a strong position to take measures since more than 90 per cent of North Korean foreign trade goes through China, a Japanese official said on condition of anonymity.

While it is difficult for other countries to push Beijing to take action, instability in the region has serious implications for China since North Korea borders the country’s northeast, which is less developed economically, the official said.

The US Pacific Command in Hawaii tracked a North Korean missile launch on Sunday morning. The missile was launched near Kusung and landed in the Sea of Japan.

The type of missile was being assessed but the flight was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile, US Pacific Command said in a statement.

However, other sources have stated the test demonstrated a new type of ballistic missile that would be hard to detect and shoot down. The missile reached an altitude of 2,000 kilometres but its short trajectory meant it could fly faster and strike a target more precisely, according to a military expert.

The missile is believed to be the Hwasong12, which has a maximum range of 4,000km. Theoretically the missile could reach the US military base on Guam, although Sunday’s test launch travelled only 800km before falling into the sea 400km outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The US Pacific Command said it was fully committed to working closely with South Korea and Japan to maintain security in the region.

The international community, including the United States, China, Japan and South Korea have all emphasised peaceful solutions to ease security threats posed by Pyongyang’s missile tests over past weeks. However, many countries have significant differences in approaching the situation.

While China said it favoured “dialogue” with concerned parties, including Pyongyang, to deal with the situation, Japan said it would first like to see a strong commitment from Pyongyang to create an atmosphere for dialogue.

“Countries should put pressure on North Korea to seriously think about what they should do for the dialogue,” said the Japanese official, adding that parties should “not just pursue dialogue for dialogue’s sake”.

Leaders including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address the issue when they meet in Japan soon at the  China-Japan-South Korea trilateral summit, he said.

The summit was delayed from December due to the political situation in South Korea that saw Park Geun-hye removed from the presidency. However, the new president, Moon Jae-in, is unlikely to take a clear position on the matter since he has relatives in North Korea and prefers flexible engagement with Pyongyang, according to an observer.

Asean is also expected to play a role in the situation, a Japanese official at the Foreign Ministry said.

Asean foreign ministers issued a statement in April expressing “grave concern” over North Korea’s missile test and nuclear programme, showing that the group was aware of the danger of provocative action, he said.

The term “grave concern”, in terms of diplomacy, was more forceful than the term “serious concern”, which Asean had previously used to address the situation in the Korean peninsula, he said.