Donald Trump has issued his first statement in response to an unprecedented North Korea missile test over one of Japan’s main islands, warning it that all options are on the table for a US response.

The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear. This regime has signalled its contempt for its neighbours, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behaviour, Mr Trump said, in a statement issued by the White House.

Threatening and destabilising actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world.

North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan’s northern Hokkaido region on Tuesday, prompting air-raid sirens and mobile phone alerts for citizens.

The projectile, thought to be a Hwasong-12, is designed to carry a nuclear payload and is shown below in an infographic, created for The Independent by statistics agency Statista.

Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, called it an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to the region.

Han Tae-song, the North’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, defended his country’s right to test missiles and warned the US of catastrophic consequences should it continue the war of words that has simmered in recent months.

Washington was driving the Korean peninsula towards an extreme level of explosion by deploying its strategic assets there, he added.

Captain Nick Garrett from Headquarters 7 Brigade looks through the sights of his rifle as part of exercise Talisman Sabre on July 9, 2015 in Rockhampton, Australia.

Talisman Sabre is a biennial military exercise that trains Australian and U.S. forces to plan and conduct combined task force operations to improve combat readiness and interoperability on a variety of missions from conventional conflict to peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance efforts.

TS15 will incorporate force preparation activities, Special Forces activities, amphibious landings, parachuting, land force manoeuvre, urban operations, air operations, maritime operations and the coordinated firing of live ammunition and explosive ordnance from small arms, artillery, naval vessels and aircraft.

Using more than 50 factors to determine a country’s Power Index, the Global Firepower 2017 list ranks the most powerful military nations in the world. The list ranks 127 advanced and lesser developed nations, based on factors such as their geographical location, natural resource reliance, manpower and current economic health.

It must be noted that nuclear capability and current political/military leadership is not taken into account. Also, land-locked nations are not penalized for not having a standing navy. Here’s a look at the 50 most powerful military nations, according to the list, as of April 25, 2017.

The US has been holding joint war games with South Korea, which also tested its own missiles last week. Hours after Pyongyang’s launch, its 13th so far this year, the South Korean military carried out a test bombing at a firing range near its border with North Korea.

Mr Trump has previously warned North Korea it faces “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continues to menace the US and allied countries. The American military is locked and loaded, he said earlier this month.

He and Kim Jong-un have slung fierce rhetoric back and forth for several months, with Mr Kim recently threatening a strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam. The island is home to 160,000 people and a substantial military base.

On Tuesday morning China, North Korea’s sole major ally, urged restraint on all sides and called for diplomatic talks. Beijing said sanctions and other pressure could not solve the problem of North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Mr Trump, his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have all previously signalled their desire for talks with the North.

Russia said it wanted the North to show restraint and avoid any new provocative actions, while calling on the US and its allies to refrain from any military escalation.

Last week Mr Trump appeared to suggest his tough stance against North Korea’s provocations was paying off.

He told supporters at a campaign style rally in Phoenix, Arizona: I respect the fact that Mr Kim is starting to respect us. And maybe probably not, but maybe something positive can come about.

But just days later, Pyongyang launched three short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan.

Mr Tillerson called that launch a provocative act but said the US would “continue our peaceful pressure campaign. working with allies, working with China as well to see if we can bring the regime in Pyongyang to the negotiating table.