Tokyo  - Japan's parliament on Tuesday condemned what it regards a ballistic missile test by North Korea over the weekend.

The lower house also called on the government implement further sanctions against the Stalinist state and urged the UN Security Council to pass a resolution against North Korea.

Meanwhile the five permanent members of the Security Council in New York continued their tug-of-war over a resolution on what North Korea claimed was the launch of a communications satellite.

The envoys of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France met Monday evening with Japanese officials for further negotiations, but postponed their talks to Tuesday after only an hour and a half.

For Japan's parliament, Sunday's launch of the rocket, which flew across Japan, was a clear violation of an existing Security Council resolution, banning North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, which could "not be tolerated."

Japan passed a similar resolution in October 2006 after Pyongyang tested a nuclear device. Ahead of Sunday's launch, Japan announced it would extend its sanctions against North Korea, which were to expire next week, by another year. (dpa)