North Korea fired a missile over Japan last night, officials said, as Tokyo warned citizens in the north of the country to take cover.
Japan's warning system kicked in, advising citizens on its northern Hokkaido island to take precautions, as the missile headed towards land in what was a significant escalation of Kim Jong-un's military posturing.
The missile later broke into three pieces and landed in the sea. It flew for around 1,700 miles, reaching a maximum altitude of 350 miles, South Korean officials said. The Pentagon confirmed the launch.
The Japanese military made no attempt to shoot down the unidentified missile, but condemned the launch in the strongest terms possible.
North Korea has fired missiles over Japan in the past - in 1998 and 2009 - but last night's launch comes at a time of extreme tensions in the region over Pyongyang's military ambitions.
Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, said that he would take all measures necessary to protect the Japanese republic.
"We will make utmost efforts to firmly protect the lives of the people," Mr Abe, who was visibly angry, told reporters in brief remarks as he entered his office for emergency meetings on the missile firing.
Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, said the launch posed "a serious, grave security threat to Japan".
South Korea's national security council was also holding an emergency meeting last night.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, last night said he was "outraged at (the) reckless provocation by North Korea". He strongly condemned the "latest illegal missile launch".
Theresa May is flying to Japan on Wednesday for trade talks.
Mr Kim has overseen more than 80 missile tests - more than both his father and grandfather combined.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the regime fired several short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast in what was thought to be a response to US-South Korean joint military exercises.
The projectiles, which officials said were ballistic missiles, flew for 155 miles before landing in sea in-between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Saturday's launch was the first since Pyongyang test-fired a intercontinental ballistic missiles on July 28 that could have been designed to reach 6,200 miles, putting parts of the US mainland within reach. The North Korean dictator threatened to target Guam, the US territory, with a missile.
That test set off a war of word between Mr Kim and President Donald Trump, and the UN imposed a raft of new sanctions on the rogue state in response.
Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, described Saturday's launch as a "provocative act" but said he still hoped to persuade North Korea to come to the negotiating table.
Last Tuesday, Mr Trump pointed to the apparent lull in military activity from North Korea as evidence that Mr Kim "is starting to respect us."
Japan's military is in the process of practicing deploying anti-missile batteries at three US bases in Japan.
Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a near four-month low on Tuesday morning as sentiment following the missile incident.
In early trade, the Nikkei opened down 0.7 percent and fell as low as 19,304.76, its lowest since May 1.
The broader Topix dropped 0.5 percent to 1,592.77.
Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister, has said that Japan will call for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea's latest missile launch. He added that Japan wants the UN to put additional pressure on North Korea, which may mean the imposition of more sanctions.
Tokyo on Friday imposed additional unilateral sanctions on North Korea, expanding its list of companies, organisations and individuals with links to the North that are having their assets in Japan frozen.
The list includes a number of Chinese companies, including the Bank of Dandong, which is accused of laundering money on behalf of Pyongyang, and Dalian Global Unity Shipping Co., which ships coal and steel products between North Korea and China.
Itsunori Onodera, the defence minister, said Tuesday morning that he expects the US to "strongly protest" North Korea's missile launch.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday said North Korea's launch of a missile over its territory was an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat".
"Their outrageous act of firing a missile over our country is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat and greatly damages the regional peace and security," he told reporters.
North Korea's mission to the United Nations submitted a letter to the UN Security Council on August 25 hinting at "tough countermeasures" and "catastrophic consequences" unless the council intervened to halt the Ulchi Freedom joint US-South Korea military exercises presently taking place in the South.
The letter warned:
Waging such provocative and aggressive joint military exercises on the Korean peninsula, which has already turned into a tinderbox, is nothing short of hysterical conduct that adds fuel to the raging flames.
Acknowledging that the US-South Korea joint military exercises constitute a grave threat to the peace and security of the world, as well as those of the Korean peninsula, the DPR Korea strongly requests the UNSC to discuss the issue of the joint military exercises as an emergency agenda item", the letter stated, according to the Korea Central News Agency.
Should the UNSC ignore the request from the DPR Korea once again, it will become self-evident that the UNSC has ceased to remain a body that assumes the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, but been reduced into a marionette and a political instrument of the US
Now that the US has blatantly manifested its hostile intention towards the DPR Korea by waging aggressive joint military exercises, despite the repeated warnings from the latter against its reckless behavior, the DPR Korea has every reason to respond with tough countermeasures as an exercise of its right to self-defense and the US shall be held totally accountable for the catastrophic consequences to follow.
Boris Johnson 'outraged' by 'latest illegal missile launch'
The launch on Tuesday morning of a missile that crossed Japan may only be the first significant provocation from North Korea in response to the military exercises taking place in South Korea, with officials warning that Pyongyang may be preparing to carry out a sixth underground nuclear test.
South Korea's National Security Service has informed political leaders that it has detected preparations at the North's Punggye-ri proving grounds, where the previous five tests were conducted.
Kim Byung-kee, a member of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party, said the NIS reported that North Korea "has completed its preparation to carry out a nuclear test at tunnel two and tunnel three at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site".
He added the NIS said it had also detected activity suggesting tunnel four was being prepared for renewed development work after excavation work was halted last year.
Analysts suggest the test may be held close to September 9, a national holiday marking the founding of the republic and the date on which it conducted its last nuclear test, in 2016.
The North claimed that test was of a miniaturised nuclear warhead small enough to be fitted to an intercontinental ballistic missile, although analysts say it is impossible to verify that claim.
A propaganda poster blaming U.S. and hostile countries' sanction is seen in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang August 17, 2017. The poster reads: "No one can stop our way!"
The launch of the land-based missile comes two days after the Rodong Sinmun newspaper "ridiculed the US and its vassal forced for being flustered due to the ... pluck of the DPRK" in an editorial.
The article in the state-run publication added that North Korea is "showing no mercy".
"If the US persists in its reckless anti-DPRK moves, sanctions and pressure, it will eventually meet a miserable fate.
"So long as the US and its vassal forces persist with such actions and imperialism, the root cause of injustice and evil remains", it added. "The DPRK will further sharpen its just nuclear treasured sword in its hand and defend independence with nukes and usher in a new era of national prosperity".
South Korean military sources have reported that the missile flew a distance of around 1,650 miles and reached a maximum altitude on its lofted trajectory of 340 miles.
Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, told a hastily called press conference that the missile fell into the ocean about 730 miles off Cape Erimo, in Hokkaido.
The missile launch poses "a serious, grave security threat to Japan", Suga said, adding that Japan would cooperate closely with the United States and South Korea to counteract the danger posed to the region by North Korea.
In Seoul, Moon Jae-in, the South Korean president, summoned an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
The missile broke into three pieces and fell into the waters off Japan's northern Hokkaido island.
The Japanese government's J-Alert warning system advised people in the area to take precautions.
The Japanese military did not attempt to shoot down the missile, which passed over Japanese territory around 6:06 a.m. time (2106 GMT).
Japan's prime minister has said he will take all precautions necessary to protect citizens.
"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.
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