North Korea fires short range missile over Japan

Even though the missile landed harmlessly in the sea, the projectile's 1,700 miles flight was enough to disrupt several services in Japan.

Reports said that the missile flew over the northern island of Hokkaido.

Television programmes were interrupted and replaced by a warning screen that announced the missile's flight over the country.

Residents were asked to take cover and not leave home.

This is also only the third Korean missile to fly over the island nation since 1998.

The test was severely condemned by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who deemed the drill 'reckless'.

“North Korea’s reckless action of launching a missile that passed over Japan is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat," Abe was quoted in the media as saying.

Later he told reporters that he had a telephonic exchange with US President Donald trump and said that "Japan and the U.S. stances are completely matched."

Meanwhile, experts believe that the Nort Korean test was a direct challenge to Trump's 'fire and fury' statement.

Earlier this month, the US President had stated that North Korea would be 'met with fire and fury like the world has never seen', if it does not stop threatening America.

The statement was met with severe scorn by the Kim Jong-un run nation, who threatened to attack the US Pacific territory of Guam.

However, after days of engaging in rhetoric both parties toned down the volume.

The US-North Korea feud has also kept nations like Japan, South Korea, Russia and China on its toes.

The state-run North Korean KCNA news agency reportedly termed US' behaviour as 'criminal attempt to impose nuclear disaster upon the Korean nation".

It also termed the US as "the mastermind of nuclear threat, the heinous nuclear war fanatic."

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