published Aug 28, 2017 6:30:42 PM, by Colin Keatinge, Lily Nonomiya and Andy Sharp
(Bloomberg) —

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, reigniting tensions after a war of words earlier this month between Pyongyang and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The missile landed about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) off Hokkaido in the Pacific Ocean, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters, adding there were no reports of damage. Japan’s government said it didn’t try to shoot it down.

“A missile passing over Japan is an unprecedented, grave and serious threat,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters on Tuesday in Tokyo. Japan has asked the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting.

The Pentagon confirmed the missile flew over Japan, and said it didn’t pose a threat to North America. The projectile was launched from near Pyongyang, traveled 2,700 kilometers in an easterly direction and reached an altitude of 550 kilometers, South Korea’s military said. South Korea’s government called a meeting of its National Security Council.
Read more: North Korea defies the world with nuclear ambitions

The yen pared some of its earlier gains against the U.S. dollar to be 0.4 percent higher as of 8:24 a.m in Tokyo. Nikkei 225 futures slid as much as 2.1 percent in Chicago, with S&P 500 futures down as much as 0.9 percent.

The missile launch comes after North Korea strongly protested annual military exercises this month led by the U.S. and South Korea. Kim Jong Un’s regime fired three short-range missiles on Saturday.

North Korea has shown recent advancements in its technology by testing intercontinental ballistic missiles that achieved altitudes of thousands of kilometers, reflecting progress toward being able to reach the continental U.S. with a nuclear warhead. That has happened despite further international sanctions aimed at squeezing Kim’s economy.

Pyongyang had threatened earlier this month to fire a missile over Japan toward the U.S. territory of Guam, prompting Trump to warn he’d retaliate with “fire and fury.” Trump has also said military force is an option to prevent Kim from gaining an ICBM that could deliver a nuclear weapon to the U.S.

“They flew the missile over Japan because they felt the need to test a missile over a longer range,” said  Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu. “By firing it into the North Pacific, it makes it harder to recover the pieces and warheads than if they flew it toward Guam.”

“They are making the point that they are not afraid to fire a missile over Japan,” Cossa said by phone. “But the main point is that they are testing missiles over a flatter range.”

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the latest missile. Tensions had appeared to cool in recent weeks, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson saying on Sunday the U.S. wanted dialogue with North Korea, and South Korea also urging talks.
North Korea has said it won’t place its nuclear program on the negotiating table unless the U.S. drops its “hostile” policies.

–With assistance from Heejin Kim, Chelsea Mes and Divya Balji.To contact the reporters on this story: Colin Keatinge in Tokyo at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net ;Lily Nonomiya in Tokyo at lnonomiya@bloomberg.net ;Andy Sharp in Tokyo at asharp5@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net Rosalind Mathieson

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