North Korea fires missile over Japan for first time since 2009, prompting Trump to insist ‘all options are on the table’

Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday in a major escalation that triggered a furious response from Tokyo and a warning from China that tensions had reached “tipping point”.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ballistic missile travelled around 2,700km and reached a maximum height of 550km as it flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido about 5.06am Hong Kong time.

The missile broke into pieces and landed in waters off the east coast of Hokkaido, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.

In response, US President Donald Trump said all options to respond to North Korea were on the table.

“The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear: this regime has signalled its contempt for its neighbours, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behaviour,” Trump said in the statement released by the White House.

“Threatening and destabilising actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table.”