North Korea fires missile over Japan: UNSC emergency meet convened

The Japanese Government warned people to stay away from anything that could be debris and said the missile landed in the Pacific Ocean.

North Korea has fired an unidentified missile over Japan from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang. The missile landed in the ocean, 2,000 km off the east coast of Hokkaido.

The South Korean and US militaries are analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The missile flew over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

The Japanese Government warned people to stay away from anything that could be debris and said the missile landed in the Pacific Ocean.

South Korea's presidential Blue House called an urgent National Security Council meeting.
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 September 3 nuclear test.

Friday's missile flew over Hokkaido in northern Japan "at around 07:06 am (2206 GMT) towards the Pacific Ocean", Japan's J-Alert system said, with reports saying it came down around 2,000 kilometres east of Hokkaido.

Seoul's defence ministry said it probably travelled around 3,700 kilometres and reached amaximum altitude of 770 kilometres- both higher and further than the previous device. It was fired from a similar location near the capital's airport, it added.

"Initial assessment indicates the launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM)," the US Pacific Command said in a statement.

"The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined this ballistic missile did not pose a threat to North America," it said. "US Pacific Command determined this ballistic missile did not pose a threat to Guam."

The United Nations Security Council will meet at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Friday on the latest North Korea missile test, diplomats said, at the request of the United States and Japan.

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