"North Korea fired an unidentified missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang this morning," the JCS said . The missile reached an altitude of 770 km and covered a distance of 3,700 km before falling into the ocean, according to South Korea's military.The South Korean and US militaries are analyzing details of the launch, Reuters reports.NHK Television urged residents in Hokkaido and Tohoku regions to take shelter as the projectile passed over Japanese airspace near Hokkaido at around 7.06am local time.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary told reporters the missile was likely "the same as before," referring to the August 29 launch over Japan. Yoshihide Suga condemned Pyongyang's missile test "in the strongest words," saying the missile passed over Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 kilometers east of Arimori Cape.The Japanese government did not try to destroy the missile, according to reports. There's been no news of damage to aircraft and sailing vessels, or falling objects onto Japanese territory.Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, however, issued instructions to prepare for unforeseen circumstances by communicating prompt and accurate information to citizens.The North Korean launch comes shortly after South Korea staged a ballistic missile training drill in the Sea of Japan. The South Korean president has been notified and has immediately convened a National Security Council meeting.Just prior to the launch, Pyongyang warned that it was time to "annihilate" the US, to "sink" Japan and to "wipe out" South Korea following the adoption of a new UN Security Council sanctions resolution this week, in response to the regime's recent nuclear test.The 15-member United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a new round of sanctions Monday, targeting North Korea's textile exports and its oil imports.On August 29, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Northern Japan. The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile is believed to have flown about 1,700 miles (2,735km) and reached a height of 341 miles (548km) before falling into the Pacific Ocean.After a number of last minute compromises, China and Russia supported the latest round of sanctions against Pyongyang Monday. While strongly condemning North Korea's actions, Moscow and Beijing continue to insist on the implementation of the so-called "double-freeze" proposal, which calls for Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and ballistic missile tests in exchange for a halt to joint US-South Korea military drills.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly mounting with North Korea defiantly continuing its missile and nuclear tests and the US, South Korean and Japanese militaries regularly holding drills in the region, accompanied by strong rhetoric by Washington. Pyongyang says the boosting of its missile and nuclear program is justified as its only means of defense should these military maneuvers escalate into a direct confrontation. </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> SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Friday that traveled farther than its first test of a similar missile earlier this month, officials from the United States, South Korea and Japan reported.

South Korean officials have said that in the earlier, July 4th test of the Hwasong-14, the North’s ICBM demonstrated a range capable of reaching Alaska, but that it remains unclear whether the North has mastered all technologies needed to deliver a nuclear warhead to targets in the continental United States.

In Tokyo on Friday, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, said the latest North Korean missile flew for about 45 minutes before landing off Hokkaido, the northernmost Japanese island. The flight time suggests that the missile may have a range greater than any the North has tested previously.

In the earlier test, the Hwasong-14 flew about 39 minutes and for a distance of 578 horizontal miles, but it was launched at a highly lofted angle, reaching an altitude of 1,740 miles. Had it been launched on a standard trajectory, it would have flown around 4,200 miles, missile experts said.

In a report to the National Assembly earlier this month, the South Korean Defense Ministry said the Hwasong-14 could have a range of up to 4,970 miles, enough to hit Alaska and possibly Hawaii. </s> 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> 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> North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean on Friday, US 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 and launched two missiles of increasing range over US ally Japan. It tested its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.

The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seems 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 US troops in Asia and the US 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 US 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 US hostility _ by which it means the presence of tens of thousands of US 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 triggered sirens and warning messages in northern Japan but caused no apparent damage to aircraft or ships, was the second 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, 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 US Pacific island territory of Guam, which is the home of important US military assets and appears well within the Hwasong-12’s range.

Friday’s missile test was met with the usual outrage. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and US. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis both called the launch a reckless act. The UN 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 US 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 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 US mainland when perfected. The UN 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.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea’s military said North Korea fired an unidentified missile Friday from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before landing in the northern Pacific Ocean.

It was the second aggressive test-flight over the territory of the close U.S. ally in less than a month and it followed the sixth and most powerful nuclear test by North Korea to date on Sept. 3.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled about 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) while reaching a maximum height of 770 kilometres (478 miles).

The missile was launched from Sunan, the site of Pyongyang’s international airport.

North Korea last month used the airport to fire a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile that flew over northern Japan.

The North then declared it a “meaningful prelude” to containing the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and the start of more ballistic missile launches toward the Pacific Ocean.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denounced North Korea’s latest launch, saying he was conveying “strong anger” on behalf of the Japanese people.

Suga said Japan “will not tolerate the repeated and excessive provocations.”

The North American Aerospace Defence Command determined the intermediate range missile did not pose a threat to North America. In addition, U.S. Pacific Command said it did not pose a threat to Guam.

South Korean experts said the August launch was Pyongyang’s attempt to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to test new missiles and win more military space in the region dominated by its enemies.

The Offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defence said the latest launch posed no immediate threat to Guam or the Marianas.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the country’s military conducted a live-fire drill of a Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile in response to the North’s launch on Friday.

Seoul’s presidential office said President Moon Jae-in has scheduled a National Security Council meeting to discuss the latest launch.

North Korea claimed its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The North flight-tested its Hwasong-14 ICBMs twice in July and analysts say the missiles potentially could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

North Korea initially flight-tested the Hwasong-12 and Hwasong-14 missiles at highly lofted angles to reduce range and avoid neighbouring countries.

The two launches over Japan indicate North Korea is moving toward conducting launches at angles close to operational as it seeks to test whether the warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

North Korea has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation dictator in his 30s, who has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011.

His military has maintained a torrid pace in testing weapons, which also include solid-fuel missiles designed to be launched from road mobile launchers or submarines.

In his aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons, Kim is seen as seeking a real nuclear deterrent to help ensure the survival of his government and also the stronger bargaining power that would come from it.

North Korea’s latest missile launch came days after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions over the nuclear test. The latest sanctions are not as tough as what the U.S. had sought, they are expected to have a significant impact.

AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo. </s> North Korea on Tuesday fired a missile over Japan which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called the “most serious and grave ever” threat to the country, the media reported.

The missile was fired just before 6 a.m. in Japan. The launch set off warnings in the northern part of the country urging people to seek shelter, reports CNN.

It flew over Erimomisaki, on the northern island of Hokkaido, and broke into three pieces before falling into the Pacific Ocean, about 1,180 km off the Japanese coast.

The missile was in flight for about 14 minutes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at an emergency press conference.

“There is no immediate report of the fallen objects and no damage to the ships and aircraft,” he added.

Pentagon spokesman US Army Col. Rob Manning said the launch did not pose an immediate threat to North America.

“We have fully grasped the movement of the missile immediately after their launch and have been taking every possible effort to protect the lives of people,” he said, adding “It is a serious and grave threat which impairs the safety and peace of the region.”

Abe told the media that he had a 40-minute phone call with US President Donald Trump to discuss the missile launch.

The two countries have requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, according to Japan’s ambassador to the UN, Koro Bessho.

“The international community has to put more pressure on North Korea,” CNN quoted Ambassador Bessho as saying.

South Korea responded by conducting a bombing drill at 9.30 a.m., to test its “capability to destroy the North Korean leadership” in cases of emergency, a Defence Ministry official told CNN.

Yoon Young-chan, the head of South Korea’s Presidential Office Public Affairs Office, told reporters that Ffur F-15K fighter jets dropped eight one-tonne MK-84 bombs at a shooting range.

The operation was meant “to showcase a strong punishment capability against the North”, he said.

Tuesday’s launch comes just three days after Pyongyang test-fired three short-range ballistic missiles from Kangwon province — of the three, one failed.

Notably, however, it is the the first time the country has successfully fired a missile over Japan since 1998, when it sent a satellite launch vehicle over the country. </s> SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean today, U.S. and South Korean militaries said, its longest-ever such flight.

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

Experts have said North Korea is inching closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target U.S. troops abroad as well as the U.S. homeland.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile traveled about 2,300 miles and reached a maximum height of 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 matter 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.

Today's missile, which triggered sirens and warning messages in northern Japan but caused no apparent damage to aircraft or ships, was the second fired over Japan in less than a month. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sept. 3.

The missile was launched from Sunan, 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.

At the White House, the launch occurred at the end of the working day, and senior officials gathered in the Situation Room to weigh a response. But the Trump administration chose not to take out the missile on the launching pad, even though they saw it being fueled up a day ago. Vice President Mike Pence, officials said, was even shown images of the missile during a visit to one of the nation's intelligence agencies.

Neither did Japan try to shoot down the missile, perhaps because it was clear moments after the launching that it was not aimed at land, as the U.S. determined.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined this ballistic missile did not pose a threat to North America," Cmdr. Dave Benham, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Command, said in a statement. It also concluded that the missile "did not pose a threat to Guam."

A North Korean state agency on Thursday had issued an alarming threat to Japan.

"The four islands of the [Japanese] archipelago should be sunken into the sea by [our] nuclear bomb," the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the official news agency.

"Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee added.

The test was met with the usual anger. South Korean President Moon Jae-in instructed government officials to pursue "stern" measures to discourage Pyongyang from further provocations. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis each called the launch a reckless act. The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting to be held this afternoon in New York.

Trump has not commented. He is to meet with Moon and Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, in New York next week.

As the missile blasted off at 6:57 a.m. local time, South Korea almost simultaneously launched its Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile off its east coast in a simulated pre-emptive strike, South Korean defense officials said.

Moon approved the South Korean missile launching and ordered his national security council to meet to discuss the latest North Korean missile test. Moon, a proponent of dialogue with North Korea, has joined Washington in campaigning for tougher sanctions and pressure against the North after its nuclear test this month.

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 has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation leader 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 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 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.

Information for this article was contributed by Kim Tong-Hyung, Foster Klug, Matthew Pennington and Mari Yamaguchi of The Associated Press; by Choe Sang-Hun and David E. Sanger of The New York Times; and by Anna Fifield, Dan Lamothe and David Nakamura of The Washington Post.
North Korea fires a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile which flies 2,700 kilometres (1,700 mi), passing over Hokkaido, northern Japan, prompting the activation of the nationwide J-Alert warning system. This is first time since 2009 that a North Korean missile has passed over Japanese territory.