North Korea Tests World’s Resolve by Sending Missile Over Japan

North Korea’s latest missile launch over Japan represents a major escalation that returns Pyongyang to a pattern of provocation it hasn’t used in years, testing how much international resolve can be summoned to thwart it.

A particularly strong reaction came from Japan, where in two northern prefectures and islands that stretch south of Tokyo, citizens started their Tuesday mornings with emergency alerts about Pyongyang’s intermediate-range missile flying over their country. The incident will likely energize Japan’s plans to increase military spending—a policy shift aimed largely at deterring North Korea.

President Biden was scheduled to...