North Korea fired another missile, less than two weeks after its suspected hydrogen bomb test, South Korea's Yonhap News said on Friday morning local time.
South Korean military officials reportedly said that the missile was fired from an airfield near Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, and headed eastward. Military officials also said that the missile likely reached an altitude of 770 kilometers and flew for 3,700 kilometers, according to Yonhap News.
Emergency alerts in Japan were issued around 7:06 a.m. local time. Japanese officials also said that the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 kilometers east of Hokkaido, the country's second largest island, according to Japanese news organization NHK.
Japan did not attempt to shoot down the missile, NHK reported.
In response to the latest provocation, South Korea is reportedly conducting a ballistic missile drill in the East Sea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the country's National Security Council will be holding an emergency meeting in response to the launch.
A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting the latest UN Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test, Reuters reported.
Experts estimate that this would be the sixth time a North Korean projectile has flown over Japan. On August 29, North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that also passed over Hokkaido. According to some estimates, the latest launch may have had significant improvements in the missile's height and distance of travel.
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