North Korea Sends Missile Over Japan, Into Ocean

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, an escalation from the barrage of tests conducted in the past few days while the US and other nations conduct military drills in the region. In a rare move, Japan told residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter. It was the first launch over Japan in five years, the New York Times reports. Train service in some northern areas was suspended until the government reported that the missile had passed, per Reuters.

North Korea has fired 23 missiles this year, four of them in the past week. Japanese defense officials said the missile passed overhead at 7:22am and landed in the Pacific Ocean 17 minutes later. It struck water outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, which reaches 200 nautical miles from the coast, officials said. US and South Korean forces, along with Japan's navy, held anti-submarine exercises last week in the region. (More North Korea missile launch stories.)