North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un presiding over a military exercise (Picture: Getty)

North Korea has fired a missile which passed over northern Japan, sparking panic as people were told to take cover.

It broke into three pieces and fell into the waters off Japan’s Hokkaido island.

Japan’s country’s J-Alert warning signal told people to shelter in a ‘sturdy building or basement’.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said he is ‘outraged’ by the ‘reckless provocation’ of North Korea’s latest missile launch.


Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said it was an ‘unprecedented, serious and grave threat to our nation,’ adding the government had protested the move in the strongest terms.

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The Japanese military did not attempt to shoot down the missile, which passed over Japanese territory around 6.06am local time (9.06pm GMT).



South Korea’s military said the projectile was fired from the Sunan region near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang then flew over northern Japan.

Couple who met on their balconies during lockdown planning to get marriedThe last missile to fly over Japan was in 2009. The United States, Japan and South Korea considered that launch to have been a ballistic missile test.

However, North Korea claimed it was a rocket carrying a communications satellite into orbit.

File photo: A ballistic rocket launching drill of Hwasong artillery units in North Korea (Picture: Reuters)

Before tonight’s incident, tensions had eased between North Korea and the United States after weeks of threats.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened to fire missiles into the sea near the US Pacific territory of Guam and US.

President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang would face ‘fire and fury’ if it threatened the United States.

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