A Japanese parliamentary vice-minister of defense says the North Korean missile launched on Monday morning likely has a range of over 15,000 kilometers and could reach anywhere in the United States.

Miyake Shingo told reporters that North Korea fired a ballistic missile from near the capital Pyongyang around 8:24 a.m. on Monday, heading northeast.

Miyake said it was likely an ICBM-class missile, reaching an altitude of more than 6,000 kilometers and traveling a distance of about 1,000 kilometers.

He said it is estimated to have fallen about 250 kilometers northwest of the northern Japanese island of Okushiri off Hokkaido, likely outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

He said no damage to aircraft or vessels has been confirmed so far.

Miyake said the government has lodged a stern protest against Pyongyang via a diplomatic channel in Beijing and strongly condemned the launch.

Japan's Defense Minister Kihara Minoru is reportedly heading back to Tokyo after cutting short his schedule for inspecting a Maritime Self-Defense Force unit in Tokushima Prefecture in the country's west.