North Korea fires missile that reportedly flies over Japan and lands in the sea

Authored by cnbc.com and submitted by saucytryhard

North Korea launched an unidentified missile Thursday that landed in the sea after passing over Japan, the latest escalation as the isolated regime flaunts its nuclear weapon ambitions, according to multiple reports.

The missile was launched from the communist dictatorship's capital of Pyongyang at about 6:57 a.m. local time Friday headed east, reports said. The projectile passed over Japan before landing in the sea at roughly 7:16 a.m., roughly 2,000 kilometers (about 1,240 miles) east of Japan's Cape Erimo, according to reports.

South Korea conducted its own missile exercise as Pyongyang fired its missile, taking into account the distance to North Korea's firing site, according to NBC News.

The United Nations Security Council will meet at 3 p.m. ET on Friday to discuss missile test, diplomats said, at the request of the United States and Japan.

The reports follow North Korea's test of an alleged hydrogen bomb earlier this month. That test, its sixth and easily its most powerful, prompted fresh, unanimous United Nations Security Council sanctions and stern rhetoric from U.S. President Donald Trump.

In response to the new test, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference that it was a provocative action that raises regional tensions. It was also extremely problematic for the safety of aircraft and ships because the missile was fired without advance

For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that UN sanctions against Pyongyang needed to be firmly imposed, and that the international community must send a clear message to North Korea about its provocative actions.

Another North Korean missile flew over Japan late last month. Thursday's launch reportedly traveled about 3,700 kilometers (about 2,300 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 770 kilometers (about 480 miles), traveling farther than last month's projectile, according to South Korea's Yonhap.

I_LOVE_ASPARTAME on September 14th, 2017 at 22:09 UTC »

It just passed over. Got the alert on my phone and the neighborhood speakers are shouting it out.

Anilemm on September 14th, 2017 at 22:08 UTC »

Currently in Japan, TV channels all went to an Emergency Broadcast, it looks like it's flying over Hokkaido right now.

senfgurke on September 14th, 2017 at 22:08 UTC »

Looks like another overflight of Japan: https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/908451000746463232

Edit: Missile has flown over Hokkaido: https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/908453503349264384

Similar trajectory to the test from August 29 (and also launched from around Pyongyang, apparently).

Edit 2: A reminder on why North Korea would want to conduct long range tests overflying Japan.

Edit 3: Details on range, apogee and flight time will tell us more about the type of missile. So far it looks very similar to the last missile test in August, which was of a Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile.

Edit 4: "North Korea's missile fell into the Pacific Ocean about 2,000km to the east off Hokkaido at 7:16am, reports NHK from Japan govt information."

https://twitter.com/martyn_williams/status/908457404437733376

Edit 5: 17 minutes flight time and a range exceeding 3,000 km from Pyongyang. It likely was another Hwasong-12 test, this time at a longer range (range of the August 29 test was 2,700 km).

Edit 6: "South Korea puts out apogee data: reached an apogee (altitude) of 770 kilometers and flew to a range of 3,700 kilometers total." https://twitter.com/nktpnd/status/908459893795037184

Edit 7: With this long range test of what was likely the Hwasong-12 IRBM, NK has also demonstrated the range to target Guam. More detailed assessments will tell us how the reentry vehicle did (the RV worked successfully during the August 29 test). It wouldn't be surprising if NK declared the system operational after today's launch. We should also expect more overflight tests in the future. For example, NK probably wants to test its Hwasong-14 ICBM at a long range at some point.

Edit 8: Initial PACOM statement