Defense & Intelligence Policy, Business and Technology

North Korea fires missile over Japan, sharply escalating tensions

Reuters: TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a missile early on Tuesday that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters off the northern region of Hokkaido, South Korea and Japan said, in a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The last North Korean projectile to fly over Japan was in 2009. The United States, Japan and South Korea considered that launch to have been a ballistic missile test while North Korea said it was a rocket carrying a communications satellite into orbit.

South Korea’s military said the latest missile was launched from the Sunan region near the North Korean capital Pyongyang just before 6 a.m. (2100 GMT Monday) and flew 2,700 km (1,678 miles), reaching the altitude of about 550 km.

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