North Korea is believed to have launched a missile that flew over Japan into the Pacific Ocean in the early hours of Thursday morning.

According to Reuters, the Japanese government issued an emergency warning just before 4 am local time, telling residents of the Okinawa prefecture to take cover indoors.

The missile flew across Japan into the Pacific Ocean, with the warning being lifted minutes later. It is unclear what the target of the missile is. 

North Korean capital Pyongyang said it would be launching a satellite during the latter part of the month of August in a second attempt this year. 

This is a breaking story and will be updated.