MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to address North Korean missile launch

Abe said the missile was an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to Japan. The Japanese prime minister said he would ask UN to up the pressure on Pyongyang.

The United Nations Security Council will meet late Tuesday to discuss the latest North Korea missile launch. North Korea fired a ballistic missile that passed over Japan early Tuesday local time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.

 A South Korean military official said that the missile was fired around 5:57 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The official added that the missile flew for about 2,700 kilometers, reaching a maximum altitude of 550 kilometers. U.S. Pacific Command projected that the missile splashed down at 6:29 a.m. local time.

Later Tuesday, Abe said the missile was an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to Japan. The Japanese prime minister said he would ask the United Nations to up the pressure on Pyongyang.

Dow Jones industrial average futures opened more than 100 points lower following the news, while the US dollar fell against the Japanese Yen.