North Korea: 'Japan Missile was 1st Step in Pacific Operation'

North Korea says its firing of a missile over Japan was "the first step" of military operations in the Pacific, signalling plans for more launches, according to BBC. 

State media also repeated threats to the US Pacific island of Guam, which it called "an advanced base of invasion".

The missile launched on Tuesday crossed Japan's northern Hokkaido island, triggering public alerts to take cover, before landing in the sea.

The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea for its actions.

Meeting late on Tuesday in New York, the council called the launch "outrageous", demanding North Korea cease all missile testing.

While the statement said the regime's actions were a threat to all UN member states, it did not threaten new sanctions against Pyongyang.

Russia and China said US military activity in the region was partly to blame for the increase in tensions, and urged negotiations.
Arriving for a visit to Japan, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday called on China to put more pressure on North Korea, saying that Beijing had a key role in the international response to Pyongyang's "reckless provocation".

North Korea has repeatedly conducted missile launches in recent months, despite being barred from doing so under UN rules.
The latest, a domestically made Hwasong-12, was launched early on Tuesday Korean time from a site near Pyongyang.

It travelled some 2,700km (1,678 miles), at an unusually low height for North Korean missile tests, over Hokkaido before crashing about 1,180km off Japan's eastern coast.

Japan sent out alerts telling people in Hokkaido to take cover. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later called it "unprecedented, serious and a grave threat".

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