North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, amidst sanctions.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described the lauch as an “unprecedented, serious and grave threat” and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

In a 40-minute telephone call with Trump, he said, the two allies had agreed to “further strengthen pressure against North Korea”.

The missile was launched at around 2057 GMT Monday from Sunan, near Pyongyang, travelling “over Japan”, the South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Pyongyang last month carried out two overt ICBM tests.

This had prompted US President Donald Trump to issue a warning saying Washington’s weapons were “locked and loaded”.

North Korea also threatened to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam.

Azeez