Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that he wants to raise the issue of North Korean missile launches at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Italy this month.

"I would like to have a thorough discussion about this at the G7 summit," Abe told reporters after a meeting of the National Security Council.

North Korea launched a ballistic missile around 0759 GMT from its west coast towards the Sea of Japan, and it likely landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japan's top government spokesman said earlier.