The military on Friday detected the launch of a ballistic missile in North Korea, which flew in the direction of the Sea of Japan (Korean: East Sea), said the general staff in the capital Seoul. The rocket is said to have fallen into the sea around 210 km west of the main Japanese island of Hokkaido.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is currently at the APEC summit in Bangkok, Thailand, strongly condemned the renewed missile launch. North Korea’s provocations are “unacceptable,” Kishida said, according to Japanese media. US Vice President Kamala Harris called an emergency meeting with the top representatives of Japan and South Korea in Bangkok at short notice. Australia, Canada and New Zealand should also take part.
According to South Korean and Japanese information, the projectile was probably an ICBM. Kishida was quoted as saying that it probably sank in the sea within Japan’s exclusive economic zone. However, there are no reports of damage to aircraft or ships. No details on the flight duration and distance were initially known from the South Korean side.
UN resolutions prohibit the self-declared nuclear power North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can carry one or more nuclear warheads. ICBMs include missiles with a range of at least 5,500 kilometers. The development of long-range strategic missiles is particularly aimed at the United States, which Pyongyang accuses of hostile policies.
South Korea’s military assumes that the foreclosed neighboring country last shot down an ICBM in early November. At that time, problems were said to have arisen after the start phase. According to the Tokyo government, the missile disappeared from radar over the Sea of Japan.
Tensions on the Korean peninsula are currently increasing significantly again. There have been more than 50 North Korean missile tests since the beginning of the year – South Korea’s military recorded more than 25 in early November alone. The latest missile tests were also seen as a reaction to joint maneuvers by South Korean and American forces. Experts fear that tensions will continue to escalate and that even the slightest miscalculation on either side could have the most dangerous consequences.
Source: Nachrichten
