President Moon Jae-in says that North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Sunday in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

The president made the remarks on Sunday morning while presiding over a plenary session of the presidential National Security Council (NSC).

The emergency NSC meeting was convened right after the North launched a projectile believed to be a single ballistic missile from its northern Jagang Province toward the East Sea in its seventh show of force this year.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message to reporters that it detected the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile fired at a steep angle at 7:52 a.m. from the province. It added the missile flew about 800 kilometers at a top altitude of two-thousand kilometers.

President Moon said in the NSC meeting that if North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile, it has taken a step closer to scrapping its self-imposed moratorium on long-range missiles and nuclear tests.

He also said that the latest launch is a challenge for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and diplomatic efforts by the international community.

North Korea had not fired off intermediate or long-range ballistic missiles since November 2017, when it test-fired the Hwasong-15, an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Earlier this month, the regime hinted that it may end a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range ballistic missile tests.