North Korea Fires Missile over Japan

North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean, in a step termed by the Japanese prime minister as a “grave threat”. The launch appeared to be the first to cross over Japan since 2009, and comes amid ongoing annual military drill being carried out between the US and its close ally in the region, South Korea. According to Al Jazeera, the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled about 2,700km and reached a maximum height of 550km as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the sea. The projectile was launched from the Sunan region near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, just before 6am local time on Tuesday, the South Korean military said. There was no immediate comment from North Korea.