"These reckless actions threaten regional and international peace and security," G7 foreign ministers and the High Representative of the European Union said in a joint statement.

They also said the tests "pose a dangerous and unpredictable risk to international civil aviation and maritime navigation in the region" that would require "further measures" from the Security Council.

Western nations say Pyongyang successfully test-fired its largest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile, which landed in Japan's territorial waters.

It appears to have travelled higher and further than any previous ICBM tested by the nuclear-armed country, including one designed to strike anywhere on the US mainland.

The North is already under biting international sanctions for its weapons programmes, and the UN Security Council was to hold an emergency meeting over the launch on Friday.

"We call on the DPRK to accept the repeated offers of dialogue put forward by all parties concerned, including the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan," the G7 ministers said, using North Korea's official abbreviation.

"We are clear that the dire humanitarian situation in the DPRK is the result of the diversion of the DPRK's resources into weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes rather than into the welfare of its people."