Nuclear-armed North Korea today said that it had fired a missile over Japan the previous day, the first time it has ever acknowledged doing so. <br/><br/>The launch represented a major escalation by Pyongyang in the face of tensions over its weapons programmes. <br/><br/>North Korea, under this programme has been threatening to send a salvo of missiles towards the US territory of Guam and prompted President Donald Trump to warn of "fire and fury". <br/><br/>Shortly before the North Korean statement, Trump said that "all options" were on the table, reviving his implied threat of pre-emptive US military action just days after congratulating himself that North Korea's Kim Jong-Un appeared to be "starting to respect" him by holding off on missile firings.<br/><br/>The official Korean Central News Agency reported, the launch of the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile was supervised by leader Kim Jong-Un. <br/><br/> It crossed the sky above Oshima peninsula of Hokkaido and Cape Erimo of Japan along the preset flight track and accurately hit the preset target waters in northern Pacific.