North Korea missile test posed no threat to Russia

Russian defence ministry says the missile landed 500 km off the country's coast

People watch a TV news program showing a file image of a missile launch conducted by North Korea, at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on Sunday.

The flight path of a ballistic missile fired by North Korea on Sunday was a considerable distance from Russian territory and posed no threat to Russia, the Russian defence ministry said.

Russia's missile alert systems detected the launch at around 2330 (2000 GMT) on May 13 and tracked the missile for 23 minutes before it fell into the Sea of Japan around 500 kilometres (310.69 miles) off the Russian coast, a ministry statement said.

A Kremlin spokesman said earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is visiting Beijing, was concerned about the missile test by North Korea.