SEOUL/TOKYO, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday for the first time in five years, prompting a warning for residents to take cover and a temporary suspension of train operations in northern Japan.
The Japanese government warned citizens to take cover as the missile appeared to have flown over and over its territory before falling into the Pacific Ocean. It said it did not use any defense measures to destroy the missile, which was the first to fly over or fly over Japan from North Korea since 2017.
“North Korea’s series of actions, including its repeated ballistic missile launches, threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community, and pose a serious challenge to the entire international community, including the Japan,” said Japan’s top government spokesman Hirokazu. Matsuno said at a press conference.
Register now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister
He said the missile flew 4,600 kilometers (2,850 miles) to a maximum altitude of 1,000 km.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it appeared to have been an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) launched from North Korea’s Jagang province. North Korea has used this province to launch several recent tests, including multiple missiles it said were “hypersonic”.
The test prompted East Japan Railway Co ( 9020.T ) to suspend train operations in northern regions, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Matsuno said there were no reports of damage to aircraft or ships from the missile.
“REAL WORLD” TEST.
Initial details of the flight announced by South Korea and Japan suggest the missile may have been the Hwasong-12 IRBM, which North Korea unveiled in 2017 as part of its threatened plan to attack Guam, Kim Dong said -yup, a former South Korean Navy officer. who now teaches at Kyungnam University.
The Hwasong-12 was used in 2017 tests that flew over Japan, and Kim noted that a test was also conducted from Jagang province in January.
Analysts said North Korea’s flurry of missile tests is helping to make more of its weapons operational, develop new capabilities and send a message that weapons development is a sovereign right that should be accepted by the world
North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs are prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions, which have imposed sanctions on the country.
Many of North Korea’s ballistic missile tests are conducted on an “elevated trajectory,” which sends them far into space but leads to an impact point not far from the launch site, avoiding the flights of their neighbours.
Firing over or beyond Japan allows North Korean scientists to test missiles under more realistic conditions, said Ankit Panda of the US-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
“Compared to the usual highly elevated trajectory, this allows them to expose a long-range reentry vehicle to thermal loads and atmospheric reentry stresses that are more representative of the conditions they would endure in real-world use,” he said.
“Politically, it’s complicated — the missile flies largely outside the atmosphere when it’s over Japan, but it’s obviously distressing for the Japanese public to be warned of a possible incoming missile from North Korea.”
POLITICAL CONTACT
The latest launch was Pyongyang’s fifth in 10 days, amid military muscle-flexing by the United States and South Korea, which held trilateral anti-submarine drills last week with Japanese naval forces.
South Korea staged its own advanced weapons show to mark its Armed Forces Day on Saturday, including multiple rocket launchers, ballistic missiles, main battle tanks, drones and F-35 fighter jets.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the test “reckless” and said it would bring a decisive response from his country’s military, its allies and the international community.
The North has completed preparations for a nuclear test, which could take place sometime between China’s Communist Party Congress this month and US midterm elections in November, southern lawmakers said – Koreans last week.
“So I guess the extremely sensitive period leading up to Xi Jinping’s 20th Party Congress was not considered sensitive enough in Pyongyang to avoid it or at least delay it,” said John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul. , about Tuesday’s missile launch in a post. on Twitter.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea’s actions “barbaric” and said the government would continue to gather and analyze information.
The launch in Japan was “unfortunate” and “not a productive way forward,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, said during an online event hosted by the Institute for Korean Studies -Americans
“We are open to diplomacy with North Korea (but) it takes two to tango,” he said. “We will leave that door open, but we will respond decisively to this growing threat.”
Register now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister
Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith in Seoul, and Chang-Ran Kim and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Written by Josh Smith; Editing by Leslie Adler, Chris Reese, Lincoln Feast and Gerry Doyle
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.