North Korea has launched a missile over Japan that appears to have been deliberately escalated to attract the attention of Tokyo and Washington.
The ballistic missile traveled about 4,500 km before falling into the Pacific Ocean, a distance that would have reached the U.S. island of Guam if it had taken another trajectory.
It will be the first time since 2017 that a North Korean missile has flown over Japan.
Due to this launch, an evacuation advisory was issued to some citizens, which is rare in Japan.
The United Nations bans North Korea from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. It is also against international norms to launch missiles at or over other countries without prior warning or consultation.
Most countries avoid it completely because it is easily mistaken for an attack. Even if it’s not as large as a nuclear test (which may be next), it’s a very provocative act.
People in northern Japan, including Hokkaido, were awoken by the sound of sirens and email notifications saying, “North Korea seems to have launched a missile.” Please evacuate inside the building or underground.”
As the missile passed over the island, it was warned, “Watch out for falling debris.”
The intermediate-range ballistic missile then landed in the Pacific Ocean, far from Japan, and no injuries were reported, officials said.
The North Korean missile reached an altitude of about 1,000 km, higher than the International Space Station, making it the longest flight ever.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the launch a “violent action” and Defense Minister Seiichi Hamada said he would not rule out all options for strengthening defense capabilities, including “counterattack capabilities.”
US National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson said it was a “dangerous and reckless decision” to “destabilize” the region.
The launch comes at a time when Japan, the United States, and South Korea are working together to strengthen their defense capabilities to meet the growing threat from North Korea.
Last week, the three nations held naval exercises together for the first time since 2017. These drills have long antagonized Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang, whom the enemy sees as evidence that they are preparing for war.
After joint exercises in 2017, North Korea responded by firing two missiles over Japan. A week later, a nuclear test was conducted.
Recent information suggests that North Korea is preparing to conduct another nuclear test.
North Korea is expected to wait until its main ally, China, to hold its Communist Party Congress later this month.
But some experts think it could come sooner than expected. They think Tuesday’s launch shows North Korea is laying the groundwork for a nuclear test.
The latest missile launch is the fifth in the past week. On Saturday, two rockets landed in waters within Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Many of North Korea’s missile tests take place on flight paths that reach high altitudes and avoid flying over neighboring countries.
But launching it over Japan will allow North Korean scientists to test the missile in conditions “more representative of conditions that would be endured in the real world,” said analyst Ankit Panda. told Reuters.
These actions have contributed to long-standing tensions between North Korea and Japan, rooted in Japan’s colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945 and past North Korean abductions of Japanese nationals. .
Earlier this month, North Korea passed a law declaring itself a nuclear-weapon state, and Chairman Kim Jong-un has refused talks on denuclearization.
Between 2006 and 2017, it conducted six nuclear tests and was subject to numerous sanctions.
East Asian nations routinely defy bans on nuclear and missile testing, saying they need to boost their defenses.
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