Latest: US President Donald Trump's insult, calling leader Kim Jong Un "rocket man", makes "our rocket's visit to the entire US mainland inevitable all the more", North Korea's foreign minister said.

The US has seen no need to shoot down North Korean missiles test-fired in Japan's direction, but a future missile launch that threatens American or Japanese territory will "elicit a different response from us", defence secretary Jim Mattis has said.

North Korea leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to complete his nuclear weapons programme in the face of strengthening sanctions after he inspected a powerful new intermediate-range missile that was fired over Japan.

The UN Security Council was called into emergency session today after North Korea conducted its longest-ever test flight of a ballistic missile.

North Korea has fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean - the second such test in recent weeks.

A nuclear strike would be devastating but Pyongyang’s leaders know that to fire such a weapon at the US or its allies would constitute certain national suicide, writes John Mecklin

European markets sunk into the red on Tuesday after North Korea ratcheted up tensions with the United States by firing a ballistic missile over Japan.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for more weapons tests targeting the Pacific Ocean, a day after his nation for the first time flew a ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan.

North Korea has fired a possible missile over northern Japan.

Three North Korean short-range ballistic missiles have failed, the US military said, in a temporary blow to Pyongyang's rapid nuclear and missile expansion.

It’s deemed to be one of the safest places in the world if a nuclear war breaks out.

Seoul will consider sending a special envoy to North Korea if Pyongyang stops its missile and nuclear tests, South Korea's president has said.

Catch up on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com this morning.

An emergency alert was mistakenly broadcast to Guam residents amid fears of missile strikes against the Pacific island by North Korea.

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have been ramping up the rhetoric in recent weeks. The crisis must reach a peaceful conclusion — and China will play a key role, writes Yoon Young-kwan.          

America's top military officer has told his counterparts in South Korea that the United States is ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities to defend itself and its allies from any North Korean provocation.

China will stop importing North Korean iron ore, coal, fish and other goods on September 5 under UN sanctions imposed over the North's nuclear programme, officials in Beijing said.

Donald Trump has said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "will regret it fast" if he continues his threats to US territories and allies.

North Korea has announced a detailed plan to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to American bombers.

Donald Trump was speaking in his own words when he vowed to retaliate against North Korean aggression with "fire and fury", the White House has said.

North Korea has spelled out its plan to launch a volley of ballistic missiles towards Guam, dismissing US president Donald Trump's threats of "fire and fury" as "a load of nonsense".

Catch up on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com this morning.

US President Donald Trump’s warning to North Korea and Pyongyang’s threat of possible armed retaliation drove investors out of stocks and other risky assets and into textbook safe havens like gold and US debt paper.

China is worried about a US missile defence system deployed in South Korea to head off an attack by the North. What is at stake, asks David Tweed.

IT would, perhaps, be too optimistic to suppose that President Donald Trump has ever perused the famous treatise on war written by the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has urged calm and said Americans should have "no concerns" after North Korea and President Donald Trump traded fiery threats.

Donald Trump has threatened North Korea with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" after suggestions the reclusive communist state has cleared a final hurdle to being able to strike the United States with a nuclear missile.

North Korea has criticised a practice bombing run on the Korean peninsula by two US B-1B bombers as a dangerous move, raising the risk of nuclear war.

The son of a Russian MP is due to go on trial in the US accused of orchestrating an international scheme that resulted in around $170 million (€152m) in fraudulent credit card purchases.

All seven crew members have made it out safely after their B-52 bomber crashed on the island of Guam shortly after take-off, the US air force said.

In tiny Guam, a United States territory of less than 200,000 inhabitants in the North Pacific Ocean, a nation are finding their voice ahead of their first ever home World Cup qualifier on Thursday.

New Scienist stalwart Fred Pearce’s new book is a richly-exemplified and controversial defense of invasive species. 

A powerful typhoon that has killed at least one US airman slammed central Japan, disrupting transport and triggering mudslides, before swerving to the Pacific Ocean.

Ireland has one of the highest minimum wage packets on the planet, according to a global survey.

A Japanese soldier who hid in the Philippine jungle for three decades, refusing to believe the Second World War was over until his former commander returned and ordered him to surrender, has died in Tokyo aged 91.

North Korea fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast today, a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same area, officials said.

South Korea has said North Korea has fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters.

Rory McIlroy is hoping the old racing adage about horses for courses holds true this week when he returns to action in the Wells Fargo Championship on the PGA US Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The United States and Japan opened the door to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the sabre-rattling country lowered tensions and honoured past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea’s latest offer of dialogue as a “crafty trick”.

The United States and Japan have offered new talks with North Korea to resolve the increasingly dangerous stand-off over its nuclear and missile programmes, but said the reclusive communist government first must lower tensions and honour previous agreements.

US Secretary of State John Kerry delivered a stark warning to North Korea not to test-fire a mid-range missile.

America's secretary of state John Kerry has arrived in South Korea, as the region braces itself for a planned missile test by North Korea.

A US intelligence report says North Korea has advanced its nuclear know-how to the point that it could arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead.