"North Korea fired an unidentified missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang this morning," the JCS said . The missile reached an altitude of 770 km and covered a distance of 3,700 km before falling into the ocean, according to South Korea's military.The South Korean and US militaries are analyzing details of the launch, Reuters reports.NHK Television urged residents in Hokkaido and Tohoku regions to take shelter as the projectile passed over Japanese airspace near Hokkaido at around 7.06am local time.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary told reporters the missile was likely "the same as before," referring to the August 29 launch over Japan. Yoshihide Suga condemned Pyongyang's missile test "in the strongest words," saying the missile passed over Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 kilometers east of Arimori Cape.The Japanese government did not try to destroy the missile, according to reports. There's been no news of damage to aircraft and sailing vessels, or falling objects onto Japanese territory.Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, however, issued instructions to prepare for unforeseen circumstances by communicating prompt and accurate information to citizens.The North Korean launch comes shortly after South Korea staged a ballistic missile training drill in the Sea of Japan. The South Korean president has been notified and has immediately convened a National Security Council meeting.Just prior to the launch, Pyongyang warned that it was time to "annihilate" the US, to "sink" Japan and to "wipe out" South Korea following the adoption of a new UN Security Council sanctions resolution this week, in response to the regime's recent nuclear test.The 15-member United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a new round of sanctions Monday, targeting North Korea's textile exports and its oil imports.On August 29, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Northern Japan. The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile is believed to have flown about 1,700 miles (2,735km) and reached a height of 341 miles (548km) before falling into the Pacific Ocean.After a number of last minute compromises, China and Russia supported the latest round of sanctions against Pyongyang Monday. While strongly condemning North Korea's actions, Moscow and Beijing continue to insist on the implementation of the so-called "double-freeze" proposal, which calls for Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and ballistic missile tests in exchange for a halt to joint US-South Korea military drills.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly mounting with North Korea defiantly continuing its missile and nuclear tests and the US, South Korean and Japanese militaries regularly holding drills in the region, accompanied by strong rhetoric by Washington. Pyongyang says the boosting of its missile and nuclear program is justified as its only means of defense should these military maneuvers escalate into a direct confrontation.</s>North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to reach the country’s nuclear goals, according to state media.

The aim was to establish “equilibrium” of military force with the US, the KCNA news agency quoted him as saying.

Mr Kim’s comments come after North Korea fired its latest missile over Japan – in what is being described as the country’s farthest-reaching test.

The move split world powers who united behind new UN sanctions against North Korea just days ago.

“We should clearly show the big power chauvinists how our state attain the goal of completing its nuclear force despite their limitless sanctions and blockade,” Mr Kim was quoted as saying by the KCNA.

He also said North Korea’s goal was “to establish the equilibrium of real force with the US and make the US rulers dare not talk about military option for the DPRK [North Korea]”.

Mr Kim personally watched the launch of a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile on Friday.

The missile reached an altitude of about 770km (478 miles), travelling 3,700km past the northernmost island of Hokkaido before landing in the sea, South Korea’s military said.

The missile had the capacity to reach the US territory of Guam and experts say it is the furthest any North Korean ballistic missile has ever travelled above ground.

The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting, in which members unanimously condemned the launch as “highly provocative” – coming as it did after Pyongyang’s nuclear bomb test on 3 September.

US President Donald Trump said North Korea had “once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbours, and the entire world community”, but that he felt more confident than ever that the US was ready should a military option be needed.

But Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasiliy Nebenzia, urged caution, saying: “We think that threats, tests, launches, and mutual threats in fact should be stopped, and that we should engage in meaningful negotiations.”</s>5:15am: North Korea will defy sanctions 'for a THOUSAND years' after latest nuclear missile test. In a rare media briefing to a handful of reporters in the Chinese capital, Beijing, the senior official also warned of the growing “power” of Kim Jong-un’s military. Kim Jong-un and his empire have defied a series of UN sanctions with a number of nuclear tests, including the detonation of what it claimed to be a hydrogen bomb earlier this month and the firing of two missiles over Japan. 3.44am: China will never accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state. Chinese Ambassador Cui Tiankai, told reporters at an embassy event: "Honestly, I think the United States should be doing much more than now so that there's real effective international cooperation on this issue. They should refrain from issuing more threats. They should do more to find effective ways to resume dialogue and negotiation.” 3.03am: North Korea celebrate 'successful missile test' and promise 'military equilibrium' with US Kim Jong-un’s goal is to reach an "equilibrium" of military force with the US a day after its leader Kim Jong-un ordered the test of a medium-to-long range missile to fly over Japan. The US said on Friday it had military options to deal with North Korea, signalling that Donald Trump’s patience is beginning to wear thin after Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean for the second time in under a month.

9.30pm: The United Nations has condemned the highly provocative missile launch by North Korea, according to a statement . The Security Council emphasised the importance of North Korea beginning to denuclearise the peninsula. Russia condemned “aggressive” US rhetoric, while China suggested the US was avoiding its own responsibility for the potentially deadly missile launch. In an interview on Russian radio, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said: “We are demonstrating not only our intolerance towards the illegal launches but also our willingness to settle the situation in the Korean peninsula. “Regrettably, aggressive rhetoric is the only thing coming from Washington.” Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying denied that China held the key to easing tension on the Korean peninsula and said that duty lay with the parties directly involved. 6.45pm: Experts warned commercial flights could be in the firing line of Kim Jong-un's missiles According to some experts, it’s not only people on the ground that may be at risk. as North Korea has launched its missiles with little to no warning. Though the likelihood of a collision is very low - and North Korea actively tries to avoid such an incident when it launches missiles - planes are still under threat. Ankit Panda, associate editor of The Diplomat, told the BBC: "These missile tests do pose a risk for commercial planes. Determining the actual risk of an incident is difficult though. It’s a very low chance. "Contrary to what people might think, [Pyongyang] doesn't want an incident. They would look to a trajectory that minimises risk." US officials warned Donald Trump is likely to react in a “strong” manner to the latest North Korean missile test as the president is set to declare his action plan. Jeremy Bash, former chief of staff at the US Department for Defence, told NBC News: “I think we will see the President come out strong today. “He is giving a speech at Andrews Air Force Base with a backdrop of major military from the United States Air Force. “It’s the Air Force’s he’s celebrating, and I think he’s going to use some very tough words, very tough rhetoric. “And, if military options are being considered by the White House, you’ll start to see military forces flown to the Pacific.” Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss North Korea's latest missile launch, the Kremlin said in a statement. Both leaders condemned Pyongyang's "provocative" actions, which risk leading to "irreversible consequences", according to the statement. They agreed on the need for a diplomatic solution, including through resuming direct talks on North Korea. France and Russia are the latest to condemn North Korea’s missile launch. "Faced with this threat, France is ready to work - notably within the U.N. Security Council and the European Union - on strengthening measures that will help to allow the Pyongyang regime realise it has no interest in escalating the situation, and to help bring it back to the negotiating table," a statement from the French Foreign Ministry said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the missile test violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, but called on all sides to show restraint. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the international body would discuss the situation at the General Assembly's gathering next week. "The Secretary-General calls on the DPRK leadership to cease further testing, comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions, and allow space to explore the resumption of sincere dialogue on denuclearisation," Guterres said in a statement, adding that he would discuss it "with all concerned parties in the margins of the upcoming" Assembly.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman has said that she is outraged by North Korea’s continued reckless provocations. Mrs May’s key focus is now on pressing China to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang. 10.40am: China ’must be prepared’ to work with US, academic says A leading Chinese academic has suggested that China should be open to working with the US on “contingency plans” for a possible war against North Korea. Jia Qingguo, the dean of the School of International Studies at China's elite Peking University and a respected advisor to Chinese leaders, warned that China “must be prepared when war becomes a real possibility”. “With this in mind, China must be more willing to consider talks with concerned countries on contingency plans," Jia wrote in an article first published on the online East Asia Forum run out of Australian National University. Given recent developments, "Beijing may have no better choice than to start talking with Washington and Seoul", he added. The article was published before North Korea’s latest missile launch. Chinese officials have repeatedly rebuffed attempts by the US army to share contingency plans for war or regime collapse in Pyongyang.

Boris Johnson has said that Britain will stand together with the international community after “another illegal missile launch by North Korea”. China's Foreign Ministry also said that it opposes North Korea's use of ballistic missiles in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, but warned that curbing Kim Jong-un’s nuclear programme should not come at the expense of pushing for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution. Spokeswoman Hua Chunying added that China had made enormous sacrifices to implement United Nations Security Council resolutions and that its sincerity could not be doubted. She spoke after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson after called on China to take "direct action" against North Korea.

South Korea fired two ballistic missiles just six minutes after the North Korean missile launch, it has emerged. The exercise was designed to demonstrate to Kim Jong-un the speed at which Seoul could launch a counter-attack if necessary. North Korea’s missile was still in the air at the time. A spokesperson for the joint chiefs of staff told the Yonhap news agency that one of the Hyunmoo-2 missiles “accurately” hit a target 250km away in the Sea of Japan – the same distance as North Korea’s launch site. The second missile failed and fell into waters in “the initial stage”.

“The UN resolution showed the international community’s unified strong will for a peaceful solution. But despite that, North Korea has again carried out this outrageous conduct. “We request an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council. Global peace is threatened by North Korea’s dangerous provocations. “The international community should unite against such conduct to send a clear message … The recent sanctions and resolutions must be fully complied with and implemented. That is now ever more clear. “If North Korea continues to walk this road, there will be no bright future. We need to get North Korea to understand that. “This time, the Japanese government once again, since immediately after the missile launch … had completely assessed the movements of the missile and we have taken all full necessary measures. “And under the firm Japan-US alliance, we will step up our level of alert to ensure the security and the sense of security of the Japanese people.”

The US Secretary of State has called on China and Russia to take “direct actions of their own” in response to North Korea’s missile launch. “North Korea’s provocative missile launch represents the second time the people of Japan, a treaty ally of the United States, have been directly threatened in recent weeks. “United Nations security council resolutions, including the most recent unanimous sanctions resolution, represent the floor, not the ceiling, of the actions we should take. We call on all nations to take new measures against the Kim regime. “China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labor. “China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.” President Donald Trump is yet to make a statement.

North Korea has launched its second missile over Japan in just over two weeks. The missile was fired from Sunan, near Pyongyang, this morning at 6.57am local time (10.57pm BST Thursday) and flew directly over the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The warhead crashed into the sea, 2,200km east of Cape Erimo, 20 minutes after it had launched. It travelled 3,700km – the furthest a North Korean missile has ever flown. Guam is just 3,380km away form North Korea. US and South Korean military have said that they believe an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) was fired, similar to the Hwasong-12 that was launched on August 29. The Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono has said that the weapon could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a much more powerful warhead capable of hitting the US.</s>North Korea remained defiant and seemingly unperturbed by the latest sanctions imposed on it by the United Nations, as it fired another "highly proactive" ballistic missile over Japan on Friday. North's leader Kim Jong-Un on Saturday said that the country aims to reach an "equilibrium" of military force with the United States.

After North fired another missile, the US suggested that its patience for diplomacy with Pyongyang is running out. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Monday had unanimously passed new sanctions against North Korea, banning textile exports and restricting shipments of oil products to Pyongyang in an effort to cripple the nation's economy, thereby pressuring it to cease its nuclear efforts.

However, the North Korean leader -- after the latest missile test -- talked about Pyongyang's heightened efforts of its military to stand against the US.

"Our final goal is to establish the equilibrium of real force with the US and make the US rulers dare not talk about military option," Kim was quoted as saying by the state news agency, KCNA.

Pictures of the North Korean leader watching the latest ballistic missile fly from a moving launcher were released by the agency, where he was also seen surrounded by several officials.

North Korea's latest test missile flew over Hokkaido in northern Japan on Friday and landed in the Pacific about 2,000 km (1,240 miles) to the east, the Japanese government said. It travelled about 3,700 km (2,300 miles) in total, according to South Korea's military, far enough to reach the US Pacific territory of Guam, which the North has threatened before.

"The combat efficiency and reliability of Hwasong-12 were thoroughly verified," said Kim as quoted by KCNA. He also added that the North's goal of completing its nuclear force had "nearly reached the terminal".

North Korea has continued with its nuclear testing and ballistic missile launches despite several sanctions imposed on it by the UN. The nation is continuing to pursue its nuclear ambitions, despite being isolated from the rest of the world.

The White House National Security Adviser HR McMaster -- soon after the launch of the latest ballistic missile -- said that the US was running fast out of patience with North Korea's burgeoning missile and nuclear programs.

"We've been kicking the can down the road, and we're out of the road," McMaster told reporters, referring to Pyongyang's repeated missile tests.

"For those who have been commenting on a lack of a military option, there is a military option," he said, adding that it would not be the Trump administration's preferred choice.</s>Queens Congressman Joseph Crowley, the House Democratic caucus chairman, criticized North Korea for launching a ballistic missile over a northern Japanese island on Friday, saying that it is hurting efforts for peace and stability in the region.

On Friday morning, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Hokkaido — the second missile fired over Japan since the one that occurred last month and the first since North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test. It is also the first launch since the United Nations Security Council issued a new set of sanctions against North Korea after it tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July. Those sanctions could cost North Korea $1 billion, according to the State Department.

“This launch is the latest in a series of actions that further isolates North Korea and jeopardizes peace and stability in the region,” Crowley said in a statement. “The sanctions imposed this week by the UN Security Council were a step in the right direction, but pressure must continue to be applied in tandem with diplomatic efforts.”

Crowley called on China and Russia to put more pressure on North Korea.

“China and Russia must exert more forceful leadership and demand that North Korea cease its threatening and destabilizing behavior toward America and our allies, including Japan and South Korea,” Crowley continued.

Before North Korea fired the missile, Trump said that he has a “very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping and guaranteed that Americans “will be very, very safe” because they are “working on different things,” according to CNN. And he also indicated via Twitter recently that he is allowing Japan and South Korea “to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States.”

Last month, Trump warned North Korea that if it continues to threaten the United States, it “will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” accusing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un of being “very threatening.” In response, North Korea said that it was “carefully examining” a plan to strike Guam, a U.S. Pacific territory, with missiles. When asked what a tough response would look like, Trump implied that his assertion “wasn’t tough enough” and said “we’ll see.”

Asian elected officials and community leaders, including Queens Assemblyman Ron Kim — the first and only South Korean elected to the state Senate — and Queens Congresswoman and Democratic National Committee Vice Chairwoman Grace Meng, however, have called on Trump to stop his “ad libbing” on Twitter and to concentrate on diplomatic channels and peaceful measures to settle the ongoing conflict with the North Korean government.</s>A file picture of the second test-fire of ICBM Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in North Korea, on July 28, 2017.

[SEOUL] North Korea early on Friday fired an unidentified missile eastward from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's military said.

The South Korean and US militaries were analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The missile has flown over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness"for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept 3 nuclear test.

The North previously launched a ballistic missile from Sunan on Aug 29 which flew over Japan's Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters.</s>The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the United Nations Security Council imposed an eighth set of measures on the isolated country over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programmes.

That followed its sixth nuclear test – by far its largest yet – earlier this month, which Pyongyang said was a hydrogen bomb small enough to fit onto a missile.

In New York, the Security Council called an emergency meeting for later today.

The US Pacific Command confirmed today’s rocket was an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) and said it did not pose a threat to North America, or to the US Pacific territory of Guam, which Pyongyang has threatened to bracket with “enveloping fire”.

Seoul’s defence ministry said it probably travelled around 3,700 kilometres and reached a maximum altitude of 770km.

It was “the furthest overground any of their ballistic missiles has ever travelled”, Joseph Dempsey of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said on Twitter.

It was a “clear indication North Korea has range – not necessarily accuracy – to follow through (the) Guam plan”, he added.

The North has raised global tensions with its rapid progress in weapons technology under leader Kim Jong-Un, who is closely associated with the programme and regularly pictured by state media overseeing launches and visiting facilities.

The North’s last missile launch, a Hwasong-12 IRBM just over two weeks ago, also overflew Japan’s main islands and was the first to do so for years.

But when Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July that appeared to bring much of the US mainland into range, it fired them on lofted trajectories that avoided passing over the archipelago nation.

“The North is sending a message which is, ‘we are not cowering before any sanctions and our warnings are not empty threats’,” Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul said.

“It has vowed the US would face ‘pain and suffering’ in retaliation for the UN sanctions.”

Millions of Japanese were jolted awake by blaring sirens and emergency text message alerts after the missile was fired.

“Missile launch! missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea,” loudspeakers blared on Cape Erimo, on Hokkaido’s southern tip.

Breakfast television programmes, which usually broadcast a light-hearted diet of children’s shows and gadget features, instead flashed up the warning: “Flee into a building or a basement”.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo could “never tolerate” what he called a “dangerous provocative action that threatens world peace”.

“If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future,” he told reporters. “We must make North Korea understand this.”

Tokyo had protested to Pyongyang in the “strongest words possible”, chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga added.

The missile overflew Japan for around two minutes, reports said, but there were no immediate indications of objects falling onto Japanese territory.

The launch came a day after a North Korean organisation warned of a “telling blow” against Japan, accusing it of “dancing to the tune of the US” for supporting fresh UN sanctions.

“The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche,” the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee (KAPPC) said in a statement, referring to the North’s national philosophy of “Juche” or self-reliance.

In response, South Korea’s military immediately carried out a ballistic missile drill of its own today in the East Sea, Korea’s name for the Sea of Japan, the defence ministry said.

The Hyunmu missile travelled 250km – a trajectory intentionally chosen to represent the distance to the launch site at Sunan, near Pyongyang’s airport, it added.

President Moon Jae-In called an emergency meeting of Seoul’s national security council, a standard procedure after the North fires a missile or tests a nuclear device.

The United Nations Security Council sanctions imposed on Monday (Sept 11) are the strongest so far, banning the North’s textile trade and imposing restrictions on shipments of oil products, among a series of other measures.

But analysts expect them to do little to dissuade Pyongyang, which says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion by the US.

Earlier this year US President Donald Trump threatened it with “fire and fury”, heightening fears of conflict.</s>UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (APP): The U.N. Security Council condemned North Korea’s latest missile test Friday, calling it “highly provocative”, less than a week after adopting its harshest sanctions to date against Pyongyang.

 “The Security Council stressed that these actions are not just a threat to the region, but to all U.N. member states,” the 15-member council said in a statement.

 The statement called on member states to fully implement Security Council resolutions and expressed a “commitment to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution to the situation.”

 “The Security Council had brief consultations and it has agreed on a press statement … in which the council condemned the highly provocative launch of a ballistic missile by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Tekeda Alemu, Ethiopia’s U.N. ambassador and current president of the Security Council, told reporters after the emergency meeting, requested by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea.

 Friday’s test is the second launch of a missile over the Japanese mainland in a month, and is believed to have flown 3,700 km, falling into the Pacific Ocean some 2,200km off Cape Erimo, Hokkaido.

 Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Koro Bessho, Japan’s ambassador to the U.N., condemned the launch as “a grave threat” to his country’s security.

 “It is very clear that it’s a real threat to the peace and security of the world as a whole, and I’m sure the Security Council will be joining me in condemning what North Korea has been doing,” Bessho said before entering the closed-door meeting.

 Beyond the press statement, however, no further sanctions are expected from the council at this time. Diplomats instead spoke of the importance of implementing current measures, including those outlined by a resolution unanimously approved by the council on Monday. The tightened restrictions include a cap on North Korean oil imports and a total ban on textiles.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the northern Pacific Ocean on Friday, U.S. and South Korean militaries said, its longest-ever such flight and a clear message of defiance to its rivals.

Since President Donald Trump threatened the North with “fire and fury” in August, Pyongyang has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, threatened to send missiles into the waters around Guam and launched two missiles of increasing range over U.S. ally Japan. It tested its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.

The growing frequency, power and confidence displayed by these tests seem to confirm what governments and outside experts have long feared: North Korea is closer than ever to its goal of building a military arsenal that can viably target both U.S. troops in Asia and the U.S. homeland. This, in turn, is meant to allow North Korea greater military freedom in the region by raising doubts in Seoul and Tokyo that Washington would risk the annihilation of a U.S. city to protect its Asian allies.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile traveled about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached a maximum height of 770 kilometers (478 miles).

North Korea has repeatedly vowed to continue these tests amid what it calls U.S. hostility — by which it means the presence of tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Japan and South Korea. Robust diplomacy on the issue has been stalled for years, and there’s little sign that senior officials from Pyongyang and Washington might sit down to discuss ways to slow the North’s determined march toward inclusion among the world’s nuclear weapons powers.

Friday’s missile, which Seoul said was the 19th ballistic missile launched by North Korea this year, triggered sirens and warning messages in northern Japan but caused no apparent damage to aircraft or ships. It was the second missile fired over Japan in less than a month. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3.

The missile was launched from Sunan, the location of Pyongyang’s international airport and the origin of the earlier missile that flew over Japan. Analysts have speculated the new test was of the same intermediate-range missile launched in that earlier flight, the Hwasong-12.

That missile is linked to North Korea’s declaration that it means to contain the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam, which is the home of important U.S. military assets and appears well within the Hwasong-12’s range.

Friday’s missile test was met with the usual outrage. South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered his military to conduct a live-fire ballistic missile drill in response to the North Korean launch and instructed government officials to pursue “stern” measures to discourage Pyongyang from further provocations. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said one of the two missiles fired in the drill hit a sea target about 250 kilometers (155 miles) away, which was approximately the distance to Pyongyang’s Sunan, but the other failed in flight shortly after launch.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis both called the North Korean launch a reckless act.

The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency closed-door meeting to be held Friday afternoon in New York. Trump has not commented.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Pacific Command said the missile posed no threat to North America or to Guam.

South Korean experts have said North Korea wants to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to win more military space in a region dominated by its enemies.

North Korea initially flight-tested the Hwasong-12 and the ICBM model Hwasong-14 at highly lofted angles to reduce their range and avoid neighboring countries.

The two launches over Japan indicate North Korea is moving toward using angles close to operational to determine whether its warheads can survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

North Korea’s August launch over Japan came weeks after it threatened to fire a salvo of Hwasong-12s toward Guam and bracket the island with “enveloping” missile fire. The North’s latest launch might be an attempt to demonstrate its ability to fire a missile close to Guam, which is 3,400 kilometers (2,112 miles) away from North Korea, said Kim Dong-yub, a former South Korean military official who is now an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

North Korea has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation dictator who has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011. The weapons are being tested at a torrid pace and include solid-fuel missiles designed to be launched from road mobile launchers or submarines and are thus less detectable beforehand.

North Korea claimed its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its ICBMs, which could potentially reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions earlier this week over the nuclear test. They ban all textile exports and prohibit any country from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers — two key sources of hard currency. They also prohibit North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates, and cap Pyongyang’s imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the U.N. sanctions and said the North will “redouble its efforts to increase its strength to safeguard the country’s sovereignty and right to existence.”

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.</s>Ever since President Donald Trump took office in January, tensions with North Korea have escalated rapidly.

The isolated country is barred by United Nations resolutions from carrying out ballistic missile tests or from having a nuclear arms program. Nonetheless, North Korea thumbed its nose at the resolutions — conducting several ballistic missile tests this year alone and five nuclear tests since 2006, including two last year.

The defiant stance has led Trump to ratchet up the rhetoric — promising to show North Korea "fire and fury" if it continues on a perilous path with even more missile tests.

The regime fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4, a significant step forward in its weapons program. The United States blasted the move, firing warning missiles and vowing to hold Pyongyang accountable at the United Nations.

Meanwhile, leader Kim Jong Un has made no secret of the fact that his scientists are working on a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching America.

The situation is so fraught that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked China — Pyongyang’s neighbor and powerful ally — to “use their influence to convince or compel North Korea to rethink its strategic calculus.”

But Pyongyang has blithely ignored warnings by Tillerson that military action is “on the table” if they continued to test intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea’s representative at the United Nations, Kim Im Ryong, flat-out warned that the Trump administration’s get-tough strategy was creating “a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war may break out at any moment.”

For his part, Trump has dismissed as failures attempts by his White House predecessors to derail North Korea’s weapons programs.

Here's a timetable of how the recent crisis has unfolded:

Feb. 12: In its first show of defiance against the Trump administration, North Korea successfully launched a solid-fueled ballistic missile called the Pukguksong-2 from a submarine.

March 6: North Korean artillery units fired four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan as part of a simulated attack on U.S. military bases in Japan. Three landed within 200 miles of Japan’s coastline and the country’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called it “an extremely dangerous action.”

March 14 : The U.S. dispatched high-tech missile defense Aegis warships to the waters where the North Koreans fired the missiles for maneuvers with Japanese and South Korean warships.

March 15: Tillerson arrived in Japan for his first Asia trip as secretary of state.

March 19: The North Koreans tested a new rocket engine, claiming its part of their space program.

April 2: Trump declared the U.S. will go it “alone” if China does not help solve the North Korean nuclear problem.

“China will either decide to help us with North Korea of they won’t,” Trump told the Financial Times. “If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it’s won’t be good for anyone.”

April 5: The North Koreans test fired a medium-range missile they claimed was capable of destroying a U.S. aircraft carrier. It failed.

April 10: The USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier, was dispatched to the region in a show of force.

April 15: The North Koreans test fired yet another KN-17 missile. It too failed. In Pyongyang, top official Choe Ryong accused Trump of “creating a war situation” by dispatching U.S. forces to the region.

“We will respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and a nuclear war with our style of nuclear attack,” Choe threatened.

April 26: With tensions building, the U.S. test fired a $40 million Minuteman III missile at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. North Korea called it a provocation.

April 28: The North Koreans test fired another KN-17 missile. Once again, it was a failure.

May 2: In a telephone conversation, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed "how best to resolve the very dangerous situation in North Korea."

May 14: North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew around 430 miles before crashing into the Sea of Japan. "With the missile impacting so close to Russian soil — in fact, closer to Russia than to Japan — the President cannot imagine that Russia is pleased," the White House said in a statement.

May 17: Two U.S. defense officials confirmed to NBC News that North Korea's launch of a KN-17 missile three days earlier was successful. The re-entry was controlled and the vehicle did not burn up, the officials said. It landed in the sea near Russia.

May 29: The South Korean military reported that the North Koreans launched what appeared to be a short-range ballistic missile that flew for about 6 minutes and about 280 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan. It was reportedly the second time in two days that the North Koreans had test-fired a missile.

May 30: The Pentagon sent a message to North Korea by successfully launching a long-range interceptor missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It hit and destroyed an intercontinental-range missile over the Pacific Ocean fired from a test site on Kwajalein Atoll.

June 13: Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old University of Virginia undergrad, was unexpectedly released after spending more than a year in a North Korean prison. He had been arrested in January 2016 and later convicted of trying to steal a propaganda flag that was flying near his hotel in Pyongyang. He was sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor after a one-hour trial. His father, Fred, credited the Trump administration with his son's release. He said his boy had been "brutalized and terrorized" and suffered extensive brain damage while in North Korean custody.

June 19: Warmbier died. He was mourned by his parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier. “The awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the family said in a statement.

June 29: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced sanctions targeting a China-based bank accused of laundering money for the North Korean government.

June 30: Trump blasted the regime as "brutal and reckless" during a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the Rose Garden. "The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed," Trump said. "Frankly, that patience is over."

July 4: North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The regime declared itself a “proud nuclear state.” The ICBM would have a range of at least 3,500 miles — and be capable of reaching Alaska. In response, the United States and South Korea fired missiles into South Korea’s territorial waters off the east coast — moves that could be seen as a warning message.

July 6: Trump vowed to "confront very strongly" the regime's "very, very bad behavior" in test-launching missiles. "I have some pretty severe things that we’re thinking about," he told reporters in Poland. "Something will have to be done."

July 7: Two U.S. B-1B Lancer bombers flew from Guam to the Korean peninsula where they "practiced attack capabilities by releasing inert weapons at the Pilsung Range" in South Korea. Two U.S. military officials said it was intended to "send a clear message" to North Korea following the ICBM test.

July 21: The U.S. State Department announced that American citizens would soon be banned from traveling to North Korea. The "geographical travel restriction" would take effect late August. It would include certain restrictions for "humanitarian" reasons. The travel ban was announced a month after Warmbier's death.

July 28: North Korea fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile. It flew approximately 1,000 kilometers and landed in the Sea of Japan within Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to the Pentagon. "We cannot accept these repeated provocations by North Korea and we made our protest to the North Koreans using the strongest words possible," a Japanese government spokesman said.

July 29: The United States tested its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in Alaska, which successfully detected, tracked and intercepted a ballistic missile.

July 30: The United States and allies flew supersonic bombers and fighter jets over the Korean Peninsula during a 10-hour show of force against North Korea. Trump and Abe spoke, with the U.S. president assuring the Japanese prime minister that the United States stood by its ally. Abe later said he "fully agreed" with Trump that China should do more to stop North Korea's weapons program.

Aug. 2: The U.S. military successfully test-launched an ICBM from California, just days after the North Korean test. An Air Force statement said the test was not a response to the North Korean action, but show that America's nuclear enterprise is "safe, secure, effective and ready to be able to deter, detect and defend against attacks on the United States and its allies." The ICBM was equipped with a test reentry vehicle, which officials said showed it traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Aug. 5: The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea due to its weapons program. The sanctions included a ban on coal and other exports that are worth over $1 billion. Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., called it "the most stringent set of sanctions on any country in a generation."

Aug. 7: North Korea responded to the sanctions with a statement aimed at the U.S. vowing a "severe lesson" with nuclear force if Washington employs military action.

Aug. 8: Trump promised "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if North Korea continues to threaten nuclear action. The remarks came shortly after it was revealed that U.S. intelligence agencies believed North Korea could put a nuclear weapon on a missile. A U.S. official said this doesn't mean that North Korea has fielded a nuclear-tipped ICBM; they still have to establish that they can deliver a weapon that survives reentry. After Trump's comments, North Korea announced it was "seriously reviewing" a plan to strike near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam with missiles.

Aug. 9: Tillerson, en route to Guam for a refueling stop after visiting Asia, backed Trump's "fire and fury" remarks. But he denied there was an imminent threat: "I think Americans should sleep well at night."

Aug. 10: Trump doubled down on his previous promise of "fire and fury," telling reporters that maybe that statement wasn't "tough enough." He later said that he was watching the situation in Guam closely.

Aug. 11: Trump continued his heated rhetoric against North Korea, tweeting: "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!"

Aug. 17: South Korea's leader tamped down the threats of war in a nationally televised news conference. "I can confidently say there will not be a war again on the Korean Peninsula," President Moon Jae-in said.

Aug. 26: North Korea fired what were believed to be three short-range ballistic missiles, one of which exploded shortly after launch. It came during an annual joint military exercise between the U.S. and South Korea that the North condemned as an invasion rehearsal.

Aug. 29: North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Abe later said he spoke with Trump, who pledged the U.S. stands "100 percent with Japan." The White House released a statement that "all options are on the table" when it comes to the North.

Sept. 8: The Trump administration readied a package of diplomatic and military moves against the regime, including cyberattacks and increased surveillance and intelligence operations.

Sept. 14: North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japanese airspace before crashing into the Pacific Ocean. Tillerson said "continued provocations only deepen North Korea's diplomatic and economic isolation."
A North Korean missile flies over Hokkaido, Japan, triggering the J-Alert system, following a similar event on 29 August.