The United Nations on Monday described North Korea's latest missile test as "extremely troubling" and called on Pyongyang to "cease any further provocative action."

North Korea launched the ballistic missile from a submarine on Saturday, prompting the Security Council to issue a strong condemnation of the latest test-launch.

"The latest launch is extremely troubling as it constitutes a violation of relevant Security Council resolutions," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

"Once again we urge the DPRK to cease any further provocative action," he said.

North Korea carried out its fourth nuclear test in January and has since test-fired missiles and launched a satellite-born rocket that was seen as a disguised ballistic missile test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-UN hailed the latest missile launch as an "eye-opening success" and declared that Pyongyang now had the ability to strike Seoul and the United States whenever it pleases.

In March, the Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions to date against North Korea over its defiance of resolutions banning the development of nuclear and ballistic missile technology.

It was the fifth set of UN sanctions to hit North Korea since it first tested an atomic device in 2006.