North Korea has carried out yet another ballistic missile test amid rising tensions in the region.

South Korea confirmed it had detected a launch towards its eastern waters, the sixth in just 12 days.

It comes 48 hours after Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan for the first time in five years.

The flight path was seen as an escalation and fuelled speculation Kim Jong Un may go further in his game of brinkmanship.

It’s feared the dictator may be planning a full atomic test at a remote site in the north of the country, something it has not done since 2017.

The Japanese prime minister’s office said the missile may have flown over the country again.

A Tweet on an official account read: ‘A projectile that appears to be a North Korean ballistic missile has likely flown over Japan.’

The latest round of aggressive posturing is in response to US-led naval drills being held in the region.

South Korean and American troops have carried out missile tests in recent days and staged a bombing exercise with fighter jets in the Yellow Sea.

The US has also confirmed it is bolstering its military assets in the region by deploying an aircraft carrier.

A meeting of the UN Security Council was held to discuss North Korea today, despite zero prospect of diplomatic progress because of a veto exercised by China and Russia.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in her address that North Korea had ‘enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council’.

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