This is a breaking story. Updates will be provided as new information becomes available.
The Japanese government says that North Korea launched a ballistic missile that flew over Japan and crashed into the Pacific Ocean early Friday local time.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs said the missile was launched from North Korea’s capital region, specifically Sunan, which is where Pyongyang’s international airport is located.
Initially NHK and South Korea’s Yonhap News broke the news about the launch.
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The North Korean missile reached a height of 480 miles and traveled 2,300 miles, which is more than the North Korean missile launch in August.
The August missile launched in August flew to 340 miles high and 1,700 miles out.
Television programming was interrupted in Japan to warn about the missile and trains across the country were halted. This is only the third North Korean missile to fly over the country since 1998.
The North Korean launch comes hours after North Korea threatened to blow the United States to “ashes and darkness” and has said it will “sink” the country of Japan, following a United Nations resolution that bans 90 percent of its exports.
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Earlier this week on Tuesday, North Korea promised the U.S. would “suffer the greatest pain it ever experienced in history” over the sanctions.
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“We think it’s just another very small step – not a big deal,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. “Those sanctions are nothing compared to ultimately what will have to happen.”
The United Nations in August unanimously approved sanctions against North Korea in response to Kim Jong Un’s two successful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July.
Then, North Korea threatened “thousands-fold” revenge on the United States following those sanctions, which cut North Korea’s export revenue by $1 billion, or about a third. The sanctions banned North Korea from exporting coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood.
North Korea’s sixth nuclear missile test caused a 6.3 earthquake and was roughly five times as large as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. The test came hours after North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un claimed that it now had an H-bomb to put onto its long-range ICBMs.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley has said that North Korea is “begging for war,” and that it’s time for the international community to impose the strongest possible sanctions against North Korea.
