A file picture of the second test-fire of ICBM Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in North Korea, on July 28, 2017.

[SEOUL] North Korea early on Friday fired an unidentified missile eastward from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's military said.

The South Korean and US militaries were analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The missile has flown over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness"for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept 3 nuclear test.

The North previously launched a ballistic missile from Sunan on Aug 29 which flew over Japan's Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters. </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — The South Korean news agency says North Korea fired an unidentified missile on Tuesday.

Yonhap said the missile was fired into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has conducted a series of test launches to develop its missile capability and recently threatened to send missiles over western Japan and into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.

Japan’s military is practicing deploying anti-missile batteries at three U.S. bases in Japan.

The U.S. military says the drills will test the ability of Japanese and U.S. forces to work together and assess firing locations at the bases. They will also allow Japan to practice rapid deployment of its PAC-3 anti-missile system. </s> TOKYO — North Korea fired a ballistic missile Friday night which landed in the ocean off Japan, Japanese officials said.

“I have received information that North Korea once again conducted a missile firing,” he said. “We will immediately analyze information and do our utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese people.”

There was no immediate announcement of the type of missile. On July 4, North Korea test-launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the missile launched Friday flew for about 45 minutes and landed off the Japanese coast in waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the coast guard issued safety warnings to aircraft and ships.

South Korea and the United States also confirmed the launch.

“We are assessing and will have more information soon,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was launched from North Korea’s northern Jagang province.

Analysts say the “Hwasong 14” ICBM launched by North Korea on July 4 could be capable of reaching most of Alaska or possibly Hawaii if fired in an attacking trajectory. It was launched at a very steep angle, a technique called lofting, and reached a height of more than 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean 930 kilometres (580 miles) away. </s> North Korea has fired a projectile into the Sea of Japan, which is also known as the East Sea, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.

The object was fired from the Tongchang-ri, in the country’s North Pyongan province, early Monday local time, the official said.

South Korea and the United States are currently holding their annual military exercises, known as Foal Eagle.

North Korea has already denounced this year’s exercises through state media service KCNA.

“Now that the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces again kicked off the dangerous nuclear war drills against the DPRK at its doorstep, our army will counter them with the toughest counteractions,” it said.

The exercises usually draw condemnation and retribution from Pyongyang.

During last year’s drills, North Korea fired multiple short to medium range missiles and announced it could place nuclear warheads on its weapons.

The firing also comes a day after Seoul quadrupled the award for North Korean defectors and nearly a month after North Korea test-fired a new type of missile, the Pukguksong-2, a medium-long range ballistic missile.

That missile was also fired from North Pyongan province and traveled 500 kilometers (310 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan.

The launch happened while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in the United States visiting US President Donald Trump. </s> S. Korea: North Test-Fires Handful Of 'Unknown Projectiles' Into Japan Waters

Enlarge this image toggle caption Kim Won-Jin/AFP/Getty Images Kim Won-Jin/AFP/Getty Images

South Korea's military says North Korea has test-fired a handful of "unknown projectiles" off its west coast into its east coast waters, further rattling an already uncertain situation on the Korean peninsula under ongoing political drift in Seoul and a new American administration.

The projectiles were launched from near one of the North's known missile bases of Tongchang-ri at 7:36 a.m. local time, or 5:36 p.m. Sunday (EST). South Korea believes at least one of the missiles flew 1,000 km, or about 620 miles. That's twice the distance as the North's most recent missile test, in February.

"North Korea has ignored South Korea and the international community's constant warnings," said Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korea's acting president, in a statement. "This shows the North's nuclear and missile provocations are a real and imminent threat to our people's safety."

Japan's government says it counted four missiles landing in the Sea of Japan, the body of water between Korea and Japan. It says three of them fell in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

"Launching missiles at this time shows clearly that North Korea has become a new menace for Japan," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, before saying he will head to a meeting of the Japanese National Security Council later today.

The U.S. military also said it detected the launch. U.S. Strategic Command spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell said U.S. forces "remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security."

These missile tests are banned by the U.N. Security Council, but North Korea frequently flouts the rules. Monday's test marks the second such firing of 2017. Last year, it fired missiles 24 times, launched a rocket (largely viewed as a trial for an intercontinental ballistic missile) in February and tested nuclear devices twice.

Longtime military analyst Daniel Pinkston, lecturer in international relations at Troy University, says he is concerned not only by the missile tests but also the recent assassination of leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother in Malaysia, using a banned nerve agent. Malaysian authorities blame North Korea for his death.

"If they don't pay a price for this behavior," Pinkston said, "and I think they should pay a high price, then they will continue with it."

The latest test comes against a backdrop that's both routine — annual March military drills staged by the U.S. and South Korea that Pyongyang sees as war prep — and unfamiliar. The new Trump administration's policy on North Korea is unclear, at best, and South Korea is in a leadership vacuum as an acting president runs day-to-day affairs in the country. The elected president, Park Geun-hye, was impeached by lawmakers on Dec. 9 and stripped of her powers. Whether she keeps her job is up to a court to decide, likely before the end of this month.

Jihye Lee contributed to this post from Seoul. Akane Saiki contributed from Tokyo. </s> North Korea launched a ballistic missile Tuesday that flew over Japan, escalating already heightened tensions with the United States and its allies over its nuclear and missile weapons development, the Pentagon said.

The Japanese government issued an immediate rebuke. At one point, residents in several prefectures in northern regions of Japan were told to take cover, according to the Washington Post.

"We assess North Korea conducted a missile launch within the last 90 minutes," the Pentagon said. "We can confirm that the missile launched by North Korea flew over Japan. We are still in the process of assessing this launch. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America."

It added, "We are working closely with Pacific Command, Strategic Command and NORAD and will provide an update as soon as possible."

Tuesday's launch is the second time that North Korea has fired a projectile over Japan. On Sept. 1, 1998, the north fired a Daepodong-1 rocket that passed without permission through Japanese airspace. The rocket splashed down into the ocean.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday said the South Korean and U.S. militaries were analyzing the launch and didn’t immediately confirm how far the projectile traveled and where it landed.

Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, said that he would take all measures necessary to protect the Japanese republic, Britain's Telegraph reported.

"We will make utmost efforts to firmly protect the lives of the people," Abe told reporters in brief remarks as he entered his office for emergency meetings on the missile firing.

The launch comes days after the North fired what was assessed as three short-range ballistic missiles into the sea and a month after its second flight test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, which analysts say could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

The North has also threatened to lob some of its missiles toward Guam and expressed anger over the ongoing annual war games between the United States and South Korea. </s> Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea test-fired a missile Monday into Japan’s maritime economic zone — the latest in a series of provocative launches that have ratcheted up tensions over its nuclear weapons ambitions.

It was the North’s third ballistic missile test in as many weeks and the 12th this year -– carried out in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.

US military monitors said the short-range missile flew for six minutes, while Japan said it fell into the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) — waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

The launch comes in fresh defiance of tough talk from US President Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7 summit that the “big problem” of North Korea “will be solved”.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action along with its US ally.

“We will never tolerate North Korea’s continued provocations that ignore repeated warnings by the international community,” Abe told reporters.

“As agreed during the G7 summit, the North Korean problem is the international community’s top priority. In order to deter North Korea, we will take concrete action with the United States.”

The North has been stepping up efforts towards its ultimate goal — developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US.

The isolated but nuclear-armed North has test-fired a missile almost every week for the past three weeks.

The latest, a short-range Scud, flew about 450 kilometres (280 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between the Korean peninsula and Japan, the US Pacific Command said.

Monday’s test also marked the second time this year that a North Korean missile fell provocatively close to its neighbour Japan.

Despite Trump’s strident warnings, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in an interview that aired Sunday before the launch that a war with North Korea would be “catastrophic.”

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” he told CBS News.

“This regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea. And in the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well.

“But the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat, if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

Mattis declined to say what kind of action from Pyongyang would constitute a “red line” for Washington, saying the administration needs “political manoeuvre room.”

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-In, ordered a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch, which came a day after North Korea said its leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen a test of a new anti-aircraft weapons system.

The South condemned the test as a “grave threat” and a challenge to the new leader who advocates dialogue with the North in a break from his conservative predecessors.

“That the North repeated such provocations after the inauguration of our new leadership… is a direct challenge to our demand for peace and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the foreign ministry said.

The missile launches, and Pyongyang’s threat to stage its sixth nuclear test, have prompted calls for tougher UN sanctions and a warning from Trump that military intervention was an option under consideration.

Following North Korea’s test-firing of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet earlier this month, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang.

But China, the North’s main trade partner and ally, has made it clear that the push for diplomatic talks — and not imposing more sanctions — is the priority.

The US has said it is willing to enter into talks with North Korea — but only if it halts its missile and nuclear tests.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> North Korea has reportedly fired a ballistic missile, in the first test since Donald Trump took office as US president.

The ballistic missile was launched on Sunday morning and reached an altitude of about 550 kilometers, according to a South Korean military source.

Japanese officials said that the missile did not reach its waters.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was “absolutely intolerable” while President Trump assured the visiting Japanese PM that Washington was committed to the security of its key Asian ally.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile had been fired from around Banghyon, in North Pyongan Province, which is where South Korean officials have said the North test-launched its powerful mid-range Musudan missile on October 15 and 20 last year.

The latest missile flew about 500 kilometers and is believed to have fallen into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the missile did not hit Japanese territorial waters.

South Korea’s Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has threatened to punish North Korea over the move.

According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, Seoul would make new efforts with its allies, including the US and Japan, to toughen sanctions against the North and make the country realize that it will “never be able to survive” without discarding all of its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea faced global condemnations and international sanctions following two nuclear tests and a slew of rocket launches last year.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced in a 2017 New Year address to the country that the North Korean military was almost ready to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Pyongyang says it is developing its missile and nuclear programs as deterrence against the United States. It says it will not abandon the programs unless the US ends hostilities toward the country. </s> SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean on Friday, U.S. and South Korean militaries said, its longest-ever such flight and a clear message of defiance to its rivals.

Since President Donald Trump threatened the North with “fire and fury” in August, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over U.S. ally Japan. It tested its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.

The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target both U.S. troops in Asia and the U.S. homeland. This, in turn, is meant to allow North Korea greater military freedom in the region by raising doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect its Asian allies.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile traveled about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached a maximum height of 770 kilometers (478 miles).

North Korea has repeatedly vowed to continue these tests amid what it calls U.S. hostility — by which it means the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Japan and South Korea. Robust diplomacy on the issue has been stalled for years, and there’s little sign that senior officials from Pyongyang and Washington might sit down to discuss ways to slow the North’s determined march toward inclusion among the world’s nuclear weapons powers.

Friday’s missile, which Seoul said was the 19th ballistic missile launched by North Korea this year, triggered sirens and warning messages in northern Japan but caused no apparent damage to aircraft or ships. It was the second missile fired over Japan in less than a month. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

The missile was launched from Sunan, the location of Pyongyang’s international airport and the origin of the earlier missile that flew over Japan. Analysts have speculated the new test was of the same intermediate-range missile launched in that earlier flight, the Hwasong-12.

That missile is linked to North Korea’s declaration that it means to contain the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam, which is the home of important U.S. military assets and appears well within the Hwasong-12’s range.

Friday’s missile test was met with the usual outrage. South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered his military to conduct a live-fire ballistic missile drill in response to the North Korean launch and instructed government officials to pursue “stern” measures to discourage Pyongyang from further provocations. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said one of the two missiles fired in the drill hit a sea target about 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, which was approximately the distance to Pyongyang’s Sunan, but the other failed in flight shortly after launch.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis both called the North Korean launch a reckless act.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting to be held Friday afternoon in New York. Trump has not commented.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Pacific Command said the missile posed no threat to North America or to Guam.

South Korean experts have said North Korea wants to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to win more military space in a region dominated by its enemies.

North Korea initially flight-tested the Hwasong-12 and the ICBM model Hwasong-14 at highly lofted angles to reduce their range and avoid neighboring countries.

The two launches over Japan indicate North Korea is moving toward using angles close to operational to determine whether its warheads can survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

North Korea’s August launch over Japan came weeks after it threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam and bracket the island with “enveloping” missile fire. The North’s latest launch might be an attempt to demonstrate its ability to fire a missile close to Guam, which is 3,400 kilometers (2,112 miles) away from North Korea, said Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

North Korea has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation dictator who has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011. The weapons are being tested at a torrid pace and include solid-fuel missiles designed to be launched from road mobile launchers or submarines and are thus less detectable beforehand.

North Korea claimed its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its ICBMs, which could potentially reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions earlier this week over the nuclear test. They ban all textile exports and prohibit any country from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency. They also prohibit North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates, and cap Pyongyang’s imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the U.N. sanctions and said the North will “redouble its efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and right to existence.”

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
North Korea test fires a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan.