It is the most important missile test by North Korea Since January, when it launched the Hwasong-12 medium-range missile capable of reaching the US territory Guam. It is also the first time that a North Korean missile has flown over Japan since 2017.
The Japanese prime minister’s office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over the place Japan It is believed that it landed in the Pacific Ocean.
Japanese authorities issued a “J alert” to residents in northeastern regions to evacuate to nearby buildings, the first such warning since 2017. Trains were temporarily suspended in Hokkaido and Aomori, Japan regions before resuming operations after the government notified that a North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific Ocean.
“The shooting, which followed a series of recent launches by North Korea, was a reckless act and I strongly condemn it,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. He said he would convene the National Security Council to discuss the situation.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said there were no immediate reports of damage after North Korea’s missile launch. He said the missile landed in waters outside the country’s exclusive economic zone after a 22-minute flight.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had also detected the launch of what it described as a ballistic missile launched from North Korea’s northern interior. She said the South Korean military is strengthening the monitoring posture and maintaining its readiness in close coordination with the United States.
South Korea President Yoon Seok Yeol It said North Korea launched a medium-range missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles). It’s a range that puts Guam within walking distance.
Yoon said he called National Security Council A meeting to discuss the launch and that North Korea’s “reckless nuclear provocations” would be met with a tough response from the South and the wider international community.
The launch is the fifth round of weapons tests conducted by North Korea in the past 10 days in what was seen as an apparent response to bilateral military exercises between South Korea and the United States and other allied exercises involving Japan last week. North Korea regards such exercises as training for invasion,
The missiles launched during the past four rounds were short-range and fell into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. These missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea.
North Korea has test-fired about 40 missiles at about 20 different launch events this year as its leader Kim Jong-un He vows to expand his nuclear arsenal and refuses to return to nuclear diplomacy with the United States.
Some experts say Kim will eventually try to use his expanded arsenal to squeeze Washington To accept his country as a nuclear state, an admission he believes is necessary to win the lifting of international sanctions and other concessions.
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