Japan PM Kishida slams ‘reckless’ missile launch by North Korea
Japan on Tuesday condemned North Korea’s firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the country for the first time in five years, which forced Japanese authorities to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains.
Japan on Tuesday condemned North Korea’s firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over the country for the first time in five years, which forced Japanese authorities to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains.
It was the most significant missile test by North Korea since January, when it fired an Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. Japan and South Korea both called security meetings to discuss the launch.
Tuesday’s launch comes as North Korea escalates tests of weapons designed to strike regional U.S. allies.
The Japanese prime minister’s office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over Japan and was believed to have landed into the Pacific Ocean. Japanese authorities alerted residents in northeastern regions to evacuate to shelters, in the first “J-alert” alert since 2017 when North Korea fired a Hwasong-12 missile over Japan in its previous provocative run of weapons tests.
Trains were suspended in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions until the government issued a subsequent notice that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed into the Pacific.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that “the firing, which followed a recent series of launches by North Korea, is a reckless act and I strongly condemn it.” He said he would convene the National Security Council to discuss the situation.
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Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Japan detected that North Korea fired a ballistic missile from the inland area toward the east, at around 7:22 a.m. (2222 GMT), which then flew over the Tohoku region in northern Japan. The missile rose to a maximum altitude of 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) and flew as far as 4,600 kilometers (2,860 miles), before landing into the Pacific Ocean outside of the Japanese exclusive economic zone at around 7:46 a.m. (2246 GMT), he said.
Matsuno called North Korea’s series of missile launches a “serious provocation that threatens the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community,” criticising the launch “in the strongest terms.”
He said Japan’s Self-Defense Force “was aware of the missile from the moment of its launch, but did not take action to destroy it as it was not expected to land and cause damage in Japanese territory.
The launch is the fifth round of weapons tests by North Korea in the past 10 days in what was seen as an apparent response to bilateral military drills between South Korea and the United States and other training by allies, including Japan, last week.
The missiles fired during the past four rounds of launches were short-range and fell in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Those missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea.
North Korea has test-fired about 40 missiles over about 20 different launch events this year as its leader Kim Jong Un vows to expand his nuclear arsenal and refuses to return to nuclear diplomacy with the United States.
Some experts say Kim eventually would try to use his enlarged arsenal to pressure Washington to accept his country as a nuclear state, a recognition that he thinks is necessary to win the lifting of international sanctions and other concessions.
