Politics: North Korea fires another missile, less than 2 weeks after nuclear bomb test

South Korean military officials said that the missile was fired near Pyongyang, North Korea's capital.

North Korea fired another missile, less than two weeks after its suspected hydrogen bomb test, South Korea's Yonhap News said on Friday morning local time.

South Korean military officials reportedly said that the missile was fired from an airfield near Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, and headed eastward. Military officials also said that the missile likely reached an altitude of 479 miles and flew for nearly 2,300 miles, according to Yonhap News.

Emergency alerts in Japan were issued around 7:06 a.m. local time. Japanese officials also said that the missile fell into the Pacific Ocean about 2,000 kilometers east of Hokkaido, the country's second largest island, according to Japanese news organization NHK.

Japan did not attempt to shoot down the missile, NHK reported.

Experts estimate that this would be the sixth time a North Korean projectile has flown over Japan. If the initial estimates are accurate, the latest launch appears to have made significant improvements in their missile program. On August 29, North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile that also passed over Hokkaido and traveled about 1,700 miles and reached a height of nearly 340 miles.

In response to the latest provocation, South Korea is reportedly conducting a ballistic missile drill in the East Sea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the country's National Security Council will be holding an emergency meeting in response to the launch.

A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting the latest UN Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test, Reuters reported.

Although the sanctions, which imposed a cap on crude-oil imports and banned exports of textiles, were unanimously approved by member nations, President Donald Trump and Rex Tillerson downplayed its severity on North Korea. Critics have claimed that the sanctions were watered-down to appease China and Russia, and reports have emerged that North Korea may be undercutting the sanctions by smuggling goods.

"With respect to the UN Security Council resolution and the President's view that it was a small step, I share that view," Tillerson said during a press conference on Thursday. "We had hoped for a much stronger resolution from the Security Council."

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South Korean military officials said that the missile was fired near Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. Read Full Story