TOKYO, July 12. /TASS/. The flight of the ballistic missile, launched by North Korea on Wednesday, lasted 74 minutes, which make it the longest-ever in the country’s history, Japan’s Asahi television reported citing sources in the Japanese defense ministry.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the missile "fell 250 km off Hokkaido, outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan."

"The maximum altitude of the flight was 6,000 km, the distance exceeded 1,000 km," he said. "No damage caused by the launch has been registered at this point."

He added that Wednesday’s launch had no relation to Pyongyang’s plans to put a reconnaissance satellite into the orbit.

A crisis response center was set up at the office of the Japanese prime minister in connection with the launch. The premier himself is currently on a visit to Lithuania, where he is taking part in a NATO summit. Wednesday’s launch was 12th for Pyongyang since the beginning of the year.