North Korea fired a missile early Tuesday that fell into the Pacific Ocean off Hokkaido after passing over Japanese territory, the government said.
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N. Korea fires missile over Japan
Kyodo News
TOKYO – North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Tuesday that fell into the Pacific Ocean off Hokkaido after passing over the Japanese archipelago, the government said.
It was the first North Korea missile to fly across the Japanese archipelago, excluding its small southwestern islands, since April 2009, when Pyongyang fired a long-range Taepodong-2 missile.
The missile was launched around 5.58am (3.58am Thailand time) and splashed into the sea 1,180 kilometres east of Cape Erimo in Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
The top government spokesman said the missile firing posed "an unprecedentedly serious and grave security threat" to Japan and was a "problematic, dangerous act," adding that Tokyo will work closely with the United States and South Korea to address the issue.
Japan did not intercept the missile, according to a government official.
In Seoul, the South Korean military also said a North Korean ballistic missile crossed over Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe criticised the missile firing, pledging to take full measures to ensure the safety of the Japanese people and analyse Pyongyang's intentions behind its latest action.
In Washington, the US Defense Department also confirmed that a North Korean missile flew over Japan. The United States is "still in the process of assessing this launch," the Pentagon said in a statement.
