North Korea fires ANOTHER missile over Japan

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile over Japan, the Japanese government has said.

Tokyo has condemned the latest action as a "reckless act".

A nationwide alert was sounded as the weapon made its way over Hokkaido, northern Japan, and fell into the Pacific Ocean.

The missile was launched eastwards from Pyongyang, reaching an altitude of around 478 miles (770km).

South Korea's miltary have said that it flew for around 19 minutes over a distance of around 2,300 miles (3,700km).

US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis said the launch "put millions of Japanese into duck and cover".

US Pacific Command said an initial assessment indicated the launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM).

It added that the projectile did not pose a threat to North America or the US Pacific territory of Guam, towards which Pyongyang had previously threatened to launch a missile.

The UN Security Council said it will hold an emergency meeting on Friday, while US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called on all nations to take "new measures" against the North.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the provocation "trampled on the international society's desire for a peaceful solution" and that "the reckless act" was "absolutely unacceptable".

The launch comes a day after North Korea threatened to "sink Japan" and reduce the US to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions.

The sanctions followed the North's sixth nuclear test, and by far its most powerful, on 3 September.