North Korea missile launch over Japan prompts Russia to evacuate hundreds to ‘safe zones’ – as Kim Jong un’s rogue state vows not to ‘flinch an inch’

VLADIMIR Putin ordered Russians to be evacuated from the North Korean border as war between Pyongyang and the US continued to loom this evening.

The Russian President signed off a move to get 1,500 nationals away from the 24-mile border with Kim Jong-un's rogue state.

Russia described the move as a "training exercise" after Moscow's foreign ministry earlier said the crisis could "lead the world to the brink of a catastrophe".

The evacuated are expected to be moved to "safe zones" further inside Russia in the event that conflict breaks out.

The war of words between Pyongyang and Washington continued to ratchet up today as North Korea told Donald Trump it won't "flinch an inch".

The US responded by telling Kim's regime "enough is enough" after a missile test flew over the Japanese mainland last night.

Washington's ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, speaking before an emergency session in New York today, said: "I think enough is enough.

"No country should have missiles flying over them like those 130 million people in Japan."

Earlier Trump declared "we've heard North Korea's message loud and clear" after Kim Jong-un launched a ballistic missile over a panicked Japan.

South Korea also retaliated by threatening to "exterminate" the dumpy despot as it bombed the North's border in a show of "overwhelming force".

Haley added "something serious has to happen" as tensions reached boiling point, with Kim threatening "catastrophic consequences" after F-15K fighter jets from the South dropped eight MK-84 bombs on targets at a military field.

South Korea's President Moon Jae ordered the show of "overwhelming" force against Pyongyang as he admitted UN sanctions on North Korea are failing to keep the despot in line.

Colonel Lee Kuk-no, of South Korea, today warned: "If North Korea threatens the security of the South Korean people and the South Korea-US alliance with their nuclear weapons and missiles our air forces will exterminate the leadership of North Korea with our strong strike capabilities."

North Korea accused the US of driving the Korean peninsula towards "an extreme level of explosion" and declared it will respond with "tough counter-measures" as tensions in the region near boiling point.

The country's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Han Tae Song, said: "Now that the US has openly declared its hostile intention towards the Democratic

People's Republic of Korea, by waging aggressive joint military exercises despite repeated warnings... my country has every reason to respond with tough counter-measures as an exercise of its right to self defence. The US should be wholly responsible for the catastrophic consequences it will entail."

Trump responded: "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.

"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."

The South also released footage of new missiles, which can travel as far as 497 miles and are close to being operationally deployed, being tested as world leaders rallied to condemn the tubby tyrant.

Japanese residents were forced to hide underground after North Korea launched a missile over the country and into the Pacific Ocean at 6am local time - escalating nuclear fears to a new height.

Officials said it was the first time the communist state has fired a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan before it splashed into the northern Pacific Ocean.

The missile was launched at 6am before breaking into pieces and plunging into the ocean- in what is thought to have been another threat against US territory Guam.

Any launch going in the direction of the US territory of Guam would also have to pass through Japanese airspace.

It is likely the longest range launch ever undertaken by Kim Jong-un's nation flying over a key ally of the United States in the region and was the first time North Korea has fired a rocket over Japan since 2009.

The missile travelled around 1,677 miles before it broke into three pieces and landed in the sea off the east coast of Hokkaido, according to NHK.

Panicked Japanese residents awoke to government warning messages sent to their mobile phones, urging them not to touch any suspicious items and warning them to take cover.

Sirens blared out in northern communities directly under the missile's flight path, as residents received an official text that read: "Missile passing. Missile passing."

One train operator halted its service, declaring: "Reason: Ballistic missile launch."

A follow-up message from the government said: "A short time ago, a missile apparently passed above this area.

"If you find suspicious objects, please don't go near them and immediately call police or firefighters.

"Please take cover in secure buildings or underground."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Trump agreed on the need for more action against the hermit state in a phone call lasting 50 minutes, after the US Ambassador to the United Nations said Washington is "done talking about North Korea".

Abe also called on other countries to do more to stop Kim Jong-Un, stating: "International society, including Russia and China, need to take this seriously and increase pressure."

A White House statement after the phone call said the two leaders "agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far".

Yoshihide Suga, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, said the missile test was an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat" to the area.

Theresa May's spokesperson today said the PM is "outraged by North Korea's reckless provocation by these illegal tests".

China today said tensions on the Korean peninsula have reached "tipping point".

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated Beijing's call for peace talks, saying "pressure and sanctions" against North Korea "cannot fundamentally solve the issue".

South Korea called for the North to abandon its nuclear weapons, but warned they are "fully ready for any threat from the North".

A Government statement added: "We are fully ready for any threat from the North and will make unwavering efforts to protect the lives of our people and the security of our nation."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also branded the provocative action a "most serious and grave" threat.

Abe had a 40 minute phone conversation with Donald Trump following the launch saying the two leaders had agreed to call for an immediate emergency meeting of the UN security council "and increase the pressure towards North Korea."

He added that the US President reiterated his assertion that the United States "stands with Japan 100 per cent".

Earlier this month Trump warned North Korea would "be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it threatened the US.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was "jointly analysing for details" with the US but didn't immediately confirm how far the projectile travelled and where it landed.

Japanese officials said the military did not attempt to shoot down the missile and there was no damage to ships or anything else reported.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he will do all in his power to protect the country.

Speaking briefly as he attended an emergency meeting on the firing, he said: "We will make utmost efforts to firmly protect the lives of the people."

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said he is "outraged" by the "reckless provocation" of North Korea's latest missile launch.

Australia also joined the chorus of international condemnation with political leaders in the country branding the action "illegal, provocative and threatening".

Aussie Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said they would focus on de-escalating tensions which have ramped up in recent months.

Russia has also indicated that it is "extremely worried" about the situation in North Korea.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted by RIA Novosti state news agency saying: "We see a tendency towards an escalation ... and we are extremely concerned by the general developments."

South Korea's military said the projectile was fired from the Sunan region near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang just before 6am (10pm BST).

It comes after it was suggested despot Kim Jong-Un could send his special forces on suicide parachute missions across the border on 70-year-old planes.

The dictator has 300 Stalin era Antonov An-2 aircraft, which can fly as slow as 30mph, and has released footage of paratroops jumping from the fleet as he ramps up aggression against his neighbours.

The planes are difficult for modern radar systems and supersonic attack jets to detect and have even been painted with camouflage to stop ground troops spotting them overhead.

Meanwhile North Korea issued a defiant response to warnings of further pressure the USA, Japan and the South.

North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun said: "The US should know that it can neither browbeat the DPRK with any economic sanctions and military threats and blackmails nor make the DPRK flinch from the road chosen by itself."

The firing comes days after Pyongyang launched three short-range missiles in what was seen as a minimal provocation after the start of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian South Korean-US joint military exercises.

However the latest flight path marks a noted escalation from Pyongyang.

When Pyongyang carried out its first two successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) last month it fired them on lofted trajectories that avoided travelling over the Asian island nation.

Japan has in the past vowed to shoot down North Korean missiles or rockets that threaten to hit its territory, and deployed its Patriot missile defence system in response to the Guam threat, reports and officials said, with an Aegis destroyer also stationed in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

In 2009, a North Korean rocket passed over Japanese territory without incident, triggering Japan's immediate denouncement.

At the time North Korea said it was launching a telecommunications satellite, but Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believed Pyongyang was testing an ICBM.

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