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PM warns Kim Jong-un as North Korea fires missile from Pyongyang over northern Japan

North Korea has fired an unidentified missile over Japan.

North Korea has fired an unidentified missile over Japan. Photo: Getty

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned Kim Jong-un “would be signing a suicide note” if he attacked the US or one of its allies after the North Korean regime launched its 9th missile test since May.

Speaking after the rogue nation launched an intermediate-range missile at 6.57am (local time) from Pyongyang over northern Japan on Friday, Mr Turnbull said the “dangerous, reckless criminal act” would be condemned by the world.

“If Kim Jong Un were to start a war, to attack the United States or one of its allies, he would be signing a suicide note.

“That would be the end for his government and thousands and thousands of people would die,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said that “nobody wants to see a war on the Korean Peninsula”. He emphasised Australia’s alliance with the US and how both nations would come to the other’s aid in the result of an attack.

The United Nations Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting after the as-yet unidentified missile was launched from the Sunan district in its capital, and the South Korean and US militaries are analysing details of the launch, the South’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said early on Friday.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop understands it was an intermediate-range missile that flew further than previous tests.

“It seems that on each occasion (North Korea) gains greater capability,” she said on Friday.

On August 29, North Korea launched a ballistic missile, designed to deliver nuclear weapons as their payload is limited for conventional explosives, from Sunan, which flew over Japan’s Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters.

It is not known whether Friday’s ballistic missile, which flew over a similar flight path, was armed. Japan’s state media reported the missile broke into three pieces off Hokkaido’s coast.

Ms Bishop will discuss the situation in North Korea at the UN General Assembly in New York next week. Their Security Council will meet in the next 24 hours, according to the AFP News Agency.

Japan did not attempt to shoot the missile down as sirens sounded and loudspeakers broadcast warnings to find “shelter in a basement” in 12 prefectures after the nation’s “J-Alert warning system was triggered.

According to Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, the missile soared 770km high and flew 3700km over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido before falling into the Pacific Ocean 2000km east of Cape Erimo, at 7:06am.

Japan protested the latest launch in the strongest terms and would take appropriate and timely action at the United Nations and elsewhere, staying in close contact with the United States and South Korea, Mr Suga told reporters.

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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Sky News on Friday morning this “this is another dangerous, reckless, criminal act by the North Korean regime … threatening the stability of the region and the world and we condemn it utterly,” he said.

“This is a sign I believe of their frustration at the increased sanctions on North Korea, recently imposed by the [UN] Security Council. It’s a sign the sanctions are working.

 “What we need to do is maintain the united global pressure on this rogue regime to bring it to its senses.

“I’m pleased that the UN Security Council voted for these additional sanctions, including restrictions on oil imports into North Korea and again prohibitions on exports from a number of categories including coal and of course iron ore was the previous sanctions, now textiles.

“Tightening the sanctions on North Korea is the best prospect to bring the regime to its senses,” he said.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House has called an urgent National Security Council meeting.

The North’s launch comes a day after they threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to “ashes and darkness” for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its September 3 nuclear test.

US traveller live-streams the alert

US traveller Matthew Galat live-streamed the warning alert over Facebook from Lake Toya in Hokkaido and described the unfolding situation.

“So I woke up with a really loud noise on my phone. It overrides I think, this emergency alert overrides all sound on your phone it makes it really, really loud. So, [the warning] came in Japanese, I had no idea what it was.

Ahmad Ali Gul, a Pakistani PhD student and researcher at the University in Tokyo, told The New Daily “it felt eerie”.

“I immediately get a message from my university coordinator saying, ‘Just stay away from the window guys. It’ll be okay.’

 “And one can only imagine shattered, broken glass isn’t gonna be the only worry if it’s a nuclear strike.”

A LOOK AT NORTH KOREA’S RECENT WEAPONS TESTS

  • MAY 14: Fires a newly developed intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile it says can carry a heavy nuclear warhead
  • MAY 21: Tests a Pukguksong-2 missile that uses solid fuel, which is harder to detect by outsiders before launch
  • JUNE 8: Fires several projectiles believed to be short-range surface-to-ship cruise missiles
  • JULY 4: Test-launches its first intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-14, at a highly lofted trajectory
  • JULY 28: Fires another Hwasong-14, again at a lofted trajectory, but outsider experts say its full range would reach far into the USmainland, including cities such as Chicago
  • AUGUST 9: Announces a detailed plan to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to US bombers
  • AUGUST 29: Fires an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 that flies over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean
  • SEPTEMBER 3: Carries out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, claiming it was a hydrogen bomb
  • SEPTEMBER 15: Fires an intermediate-range missile over Japan into the Pacific; it flew about 3700km, its longest-ever flight.
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