North Korea fires ANOTHER ballistic missile towards Japan as tensions flare

NORTH Korea has fired another ballistic missile towards Japan, South Korean authorities said.

Tonight’s launch was the sixth in just 12 days and the first since it fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan on Tuesday.

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It follows joint missile drills by South Korea and the United States.

And tensions flared after the return of a US aircraft carrier to the sea between Korea and Japan – which staged trilateral anti-submarine exercises last week with Japanese naval forces – in response to North Korea‘s recent missile tests.

Japanese authorities confirmed the latest missile launch at 6.09am local time.

The Ministry of Defence tweeted: “We will let you know as soon as we have further news.”

The latest missile test comes just a day after the US accused fellow United Nations Security Council members China and Russia of protecting North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un by watering down attempts at reinforcing sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “The DPRK [North Korea] has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council.

“In short, two permanent members of the Security Council have enabled Kim Jong Un.”

An emergency security council meeting was set up after North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan early on Tuesday morning – for the first time in five years.

This prompted the Japanese authorities to order citizens to evacuate buildings or seek refuge underground.

Following the emergency public council meeting, nine Security Council members – Britain, France, the US, Albania, Brazil, India, Ireland, Norway and the United Arab Emirates – published a joint statement condemning the missile launch.

China and Russia did not sign the joint statement. Instead, the two giants blamed the United States and South Korean joint military exercises for aggravating Pyongyang.

Thomas-Greenfield countered their accusations by highlighting there was “no equivalency between these two activities [military exercises and firing ballistic missiles]”.

In July, Kim Jong-un said North Korea was “ready to mobilise” nuclear weapons in a chilling warning to the West.