North Korea has launched a ballistic missile that travelled over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, Reuters reported. The launch was Pyongyang’s fifth launch 10 days and comes after the U.S. and South Korea held joint-military drills. Intelligence officials believe North Korea is preparing its first nuclear test in over five years.
The missile, which was detected by the Japanese coast guard and South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, prompted warning sirens in northern Japan. Residents were urged to take shelter while transportation services in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions were temporarily suspended.
JUST IN – North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan. Missile alerts have been activated.pic.twitter.com/OvnoE1TWXL
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 3, 2022
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch as a “barbaric act” while South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warned of a “resolute” response, Yonhap news agency reported. Both leaders convened meetings with their defense councils immediately following the launch.
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said the missile flew for some 4,000 km (2,485 miles) reaching an altitude of 1,000 km (621 miles) before falling into the Pacific Ocean after about 22 minutes in the air. It was launched from the North of the country, not far from the border with China.
South Korea’s military said it had “detected one suspected medium-range ballistic missile that was launched from Mupyong-ri area of Jagang Province at around 7:23 am (22:23 GMT) today and passed over Japan in the eastern direction.”
North Korea has conducted a number of missile tests around military drills being held by the U.S. and South Korea.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said that firing a missile directly over Japan represented a “significant escalation” of recent provocations from North Korea.
“Diplomacy isn’t dead, but talks aren’t about to resume either,” Easley told Reuters. “Pyongyang is still in the middle of a provocation and testing cycle and is likely waiting until after China’s mid-October Communist Party Congress to conduct an even more significant test.”
Defense officials have stated that North Korea has conducted a conducted a record number of weapons tests this year.
One of the weapons tested was reportedly an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM), which are banned under U.N. sanctions.
Daniel Kritenbrink, the State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the recent launch was “unfortunate,” but added that a path to dialogue remains open. “(We) urge the DPRK to take the path of dialogue, commit to serious and sustained diplomacy, and refrain from further destabilizing activities,” he said.
Officials in South Korea have suggested North Korea might carry out a nuclear test after the end of the Congress in China and before the US holds its mid-term elections in November. The rogue nation last conducted a nuclear test in 2017.
