North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan

North Korea has fired a suspected intermediate range ballistic missile over part of northern Japan.

It prompted a warning from the Japanese government for people on the island of Hokkaido to take cover during its flight, and the temporary suspension of some train operations.

This is the first time North Korea has launched a missile over Japan since 2017.

The UN prohibits North Korea from ballistic and nuclear weapons tests.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida strongly condemned the actions, describing the launch as “violent behaviour”, and the Japanese government has called a meeting of its National Security Council.

The government said the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean about 3,000 km (1,860 miles) from Japan, and that no injuries have been reported in connection with it.

“North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Please evacuate into buildings or underground,” the Japanese government said in a rare alert issued at 07:29 on Tuesday (22:29 GMT Monday).

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South Korea’s military says it was launched at 07:23 and flew through Japan’s airspace.

The US has responded, with the top US diplomat for East Asia, Daniel Kritenbrink, describing North Korea’s decision as “unfortunate”.

The missile launch is the fifth carried out by Pyongyang in a week.

On Saturday, two rockets came down in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Pyongyang has stepped up missile testing recently, defying a UN security council ban on ballistic and nuclear weapons tests.

Earlier this month, North Korea passed a law declaring itself to be a nuclear weapons state, with leader Kim Jong-un ruling out the possibility of talks on denuclearisation.

Despite widespread sanctions, Pyongyang conducted six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017.