How New Zealand responded to North Korea's ballistic missile test

Japanese citizens were warned to take cover after North Korea launched a ballistic missile towards the country. 

It's believed to have been fired from near North Korea's border with China and flew over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean. It's the first time in five years a North Korean missile has been fired over Japan and its actions are being condemned across the Pacific. 

It was a nation braced for a possible attack, with sirens in the streets and a chilling warning appearing on Japan's television screens. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed his citizens to take shelter.

The drills citizens have been doing since 2017 were all of a sudden all-important as North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un fired a ballistic missile their way.

"We strongly condemn the launch as an outrageous act," said the Japanese Prime Minister. 

The missile flew around 4000 kilometres and hit the Pacific Ocean off Japan's east coast. Tokyo said it took no steps to shoot the missile down.

"I have instructed officials to check for possible damage caused by falling objects, to thoroughly collect and analyse information, and cooperate with allies," said Kishida.

South Korea promised a decisive response. 

"Pyongyang's reckless nuclear provocations will face a resolute response from our military as well as our allies and the international community," said President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern joined the international condemnation

"We are seeing increasing use of ballistic missiles and testing coming from North Korea and we must continue to utterly condemn what is happening," she said.

The missile was launched while our Foreign Affairs Minister was meeting with her Solomon Islands counterpart. Newshub informed them of the launch. 

"Anything that impacts the Pacific you would expect Pacific nations to have a view on," Mahuta said. "By and large, having any type of nuclear activity in our region will be a matter of high concern."

"That is a concern and one that we condemn," said Solomon Islands Foreign Affairs Minister Jeremiah Manele. 

Over the other side of the world, there's more bracing. Video has emerged of Russian trains loaded with equipment travelling towards the Ukraine border. One defence analyst says it is carrying a kit from the Russian military directorate responsible for nuclear weapons.

Two concerning nuclear provocations in just one day.