A UN resolution taken by its International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has "strongly" condemned North Korean missile tests "which seriously threatened the safety of seafarers and international shipping", reported Reuters.

The resolution was adopted by a majority of over 100 countries attending the IMO security committee in London.

Without enough notice, tests are endangering the safety of commercial shipping in busy sea lanes in northeastern Asia, several countries told a UN agency.

Nuclear-armed North Korea's sixth satellite launch on ended in failure, with the booster and payload plunging into the sea, but that still prompted emergency alerts and evacuation warnings.

North Korea rejected the resolution and a paper submitted by countries including the United States, South Korea and Japan. It said in response in that the missile tests "constitute routine and planned self-defensive measures taken by a sovereign state to defend national security".