North Korea raises the stakes by firing missile over Japan

Tokyo

GLOBAL financial markets began to take the threat of a new Korean conflict more seriously on Tuesday, after North Korea fired a missile over Japan's northern island of Hokkaido and into the North Pacific Ocean in a move seen to have raised the threat level in north-east Asia significantly.

Japan did not attempt to intercept the missile, but issued warnings to residents of Hokkaido to be prepared to take cover if necessary.