In a first, North Korea on Tuesday fired a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload that flew over U.S. ally Japan and splashed into the northern Pacific Ocean, officials said. The aggressive launch over the territory of a close U.S. ally sent a clear message of defiance as Washington and South Korea conduct war games nearby.

Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan conferred by telephone over the latest missile test and how to response.

The White House said Tuesday that the leaders agreed that North Korea poses "a grave and growing direct threat" to the United States, Japan, South Korea and countries around the world.

"President Trump and Prime Minister Abe committed to increasing pressure on North Korea, and doing their utmost to convince the international community to do the same," the White House said.

Abe said in a statement that "Japan's and the U.S. positions are totally at one."

The prime minister added that both nations were in "total agreement" that an emergency meeting was needed at the U.N. Security Council to step up pressure on North Korea after what he called an unprecedented threat. He also said Trump expressed his "strong commitment'' to defending Japan.

North Korea's latest test came weeks after the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose tough new sanctions against the government in Pyongyang.

It also followed a series of missile launches late Friday, and came after a period in which the U.S. and North Korea had traded heated rhetoric over Pyongyang's continued missile tests, which violate U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibiting them.

Trump last week praised North Korea's decision to back down from its earlier threats to attack the U.S. territory of Guan.

"But, Kim Jong Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us," Trump said at a campaign rally last week in Phoenix. "I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact. And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also had complimented North Korea for its restraint in recent weeks. (AP)