TOKYO/SEOUL: North Korea fired several ballistic missiles on Thursday, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) which triggered an alert for residents of parts of the center and north Japan seek shelter.
Despite an initial warning from the government that a missile had flown over Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect.
Officials in South Korea and Japan said the missile may have been an ICBM, which are North Korea’s longest-range weapons, and are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to the other side of the planet.
South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight, Yonhap news agency reported, without giving further details. Spokespersons for the South Korean and Japanese defense ministries declined to confirm the possible failure.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the government had lost track of the missile over the Sea of Japan, prompting him to correct his announcement that it had flown over Japan.
Retired Vice Admiral and former Fleet Commander of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Yoji Koda said the loss of radar tracking on the projectile indicated a failed launch.
“It means that at some point in the flight path there was a problem for the missile and it actually went down,” he said.
Although the warhead fell into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, debris would have traveled at high speed and could still have passed over Japan, Koda added.
North Korea has had several failed ICBM tests this year, according to South Korean and US officials.
The United States condemned North Korea’s launch of the ICBM, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “This launch is in flagrant violation of several UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.
It also demonstrates the threat of North Korea’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, Price added.
The launches came after Pyongyang called on the United States and South Korea to halt large-scale military exercises, saying “such recklessness and military provocations can no longer be tolerated”.
He said a recent spate of missile launches and other military activities were in protest against such drills.
The allies conducted one of the largest aerial exercises ever, with hundreds of South Korean and American fighter jets, including F-35 fighters, staging simulated missions around the clock.
After the launch of the ICBM on Thursday, the allies agreed to extend the exercises last Friday when they were due to end, the South Korean air force said in a statement.
“A strong combined defense position of the ROK-US alliance is necessary in the context of the current security crisis which is worsening due to North Korean provocations,” the statement said, using the initials of the official name of the alliance. South Korea.
EMERGENCY WARNINGS
North Korea also launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday.
The launches came after North Korea fired at least 23 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day, including one that landed off the South Korean coast for the first time.
South Korea issued rare air raid warnings and launched its own missiles in response after Wednesday’s barrage. On Thursday, the Southern Department of Transportation announced that air routes had reopened in the area where the missile fell, after being closed for about 24 hours.
After the first launch on Thursday, residents of Japan’s Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures were warned to take shelter indoors, according to the J-Alert emergency broadcast system.
“We detected a launch that showed the potential to fly over Japan and therefore raised the J alert, but after verifying the flight we confirmed that it did not pass over Japan,” said Hamada to reporters.
The first missile flew at an altitude of about 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) and a range of 750 km, he said. Such a flight pattern is called a “smoothed trajectory”, in which a missile is fired high into space to avoid flying over neighboring countries.
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the long-range missile was launched from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
About an hour after the first launch, the South Korean military and the Japanese coast guard reported a second and third launch from North Korea. South Korea said they were short-range missiles fired from Kaechon, north of Pyongyang.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman strongly condemned North Korea’s series of missile launches as ‘deplorable and immoral’ during an appeal telephone call on Thursday, the Seoul Foreign Ministry said.
In brief comments to reporters minutes later, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “North Korea’s repeated missile launches are an outrage and absolutely cannot be forgiven.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian At a regular press conference on Thursday, he avoided commenting directly on missile launches or potential sanctions against North Korea, instead repeating Beijing’s standard line that he hoped all sides could resolve. problems peacefully through dialogue.
US President Joe Biden and his national security team were “assessing the situation”, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement, which added that the United States would take “all necessary measures” to Ensure the security.
After North Korea’s launches on Wednesday, including a missile that landed less than 60 km (40 miles) off the South Korean coast, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the flights “encroaching territorial” and Washington denounced them as “reckless”.
On Oct. 4, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting residents to take cover. It was the farthest North Korea had ever fired a missile.
Despite an initial warning from the government that a missile had flown over Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect.
Officials in South Korea and Japan said the missile may have been an ICBM, which are North Korea’s longest-range weapons, and are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to the other side of the planet.
South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight, Yonhap news agency reported, without giving further details. Spokespersons for the South Korean and Japanese defense ministries declined to confirm the possible failure.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the government had lost track of the missile over the Sea of Japan, prompting him to correct his announcement that it had flown over Japan.
Retired Vice Admiral and former Fleet Commander of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Yoji Koda said the loss of radar tracking on the projectile indicated a failed launch.
“It means that at some point in the flight path there was a problem for the missile and it actually went down,” he said.
Although the warhead fell into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, debris would have traveled at high speed and could still have passed over Japan, Koda added.
North Korea has had several failed ICBM tests this year, according to South Korean and US officials.
The United States condemned North Korea’s launch of the ICBM, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. “This launch is in flagrant violation of several UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.
It also demonstrates the threat of North Korea’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, Price added.
The launches came after Pyongyang called on the United States and South Korea to halt large-scale military exercises, saying “such recklessness and military provocations can no longer be tolerated”.
He said a recent spate of missile launches and other military activities were in protest against such drills.
The allies conducted one of the largest aerial exercises ever, with hundreds of South Korean and American fighter jets, including F-35 fighters, staging simulated missions around the clock.
After the launch of the ICBM on Thursday, the allies agreed to extend the exercises last Friday when they were due to end, the South Korean air force said in a statement.
“A strong combined defense position of the ROK-US alliance is necessary in the context of the current security crisis which is worsening due to North Korean provocations,” the statement said, using the initials of the official name of the alliance. South Korea.
EMERGENCY WARNINGS
North Korea also launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday.
The launches came after North Korea fired at least 23 missiles on Wednesday, the most in a single day, including one that landed off the South Korean coast for the first time.
South Korea issued rare air raid warnings and launched its own missiles in response after Wednesday’s barrage. On Thursday, the Southern Department of Transportation announced that air routes had reopened in the area where the missile fell, after being closed for about 24 hours.
After the first launch on Thursday, residents of Japan’s Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures were warned to take shelter indoors, according to the J-Alert emergency broadcast system.
“We detected a launch that showed the potential to fly over Japan and therefore raised the J alert, but after verifying the flight we confirmed that it did not pass over Japan,” said Hamada to reporters.
The first missile flew at an altitude of about 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) and a range of 750 km, he said. Such a flight pattern is called a “smoothed trajectory”, in which a missile is fired high into space to avoid flying over neighboring countries.
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the long-range missile was launched from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
About an hour after the first launch, the South Korean military and the Japanese coast guard reported a second and third launch from North Korea. South Korea said they were short-range missiles fired from Kaechon, north of Pyongyang.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
South Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman strongly condemned North Korea’s series of missile launches as ‘deplorable and immoral’ during an appeal telephone call on Thursday, the Seoul Foreign Ministry said.
In brief comments to reporters minutes later, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, “North Korea’s repeated missile launches are an outrage and absolutely cannot be forgiven.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian At a regular press conference on Thursday, he avoided commenting directly on missile launches or potential sanctions against North Korea, instead repeating Beijing’s standard line that he hoped all sides could resolve. problems peacefully through dialogue.
US President Joe Biden and his national security team were “assessing the situation”, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement, which added that the United States would take “all necessary measures” to Ensure the security.
After North Korea’s launches on Wednesday, including a missile that landed less than 60 km (40 miles) off the South Korean coast, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called the flights “encroaching territorial” and Washington denounced them as “reckless”.
On Oct. 4, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting residents to take cover. It was the farthest North Korea had ever fired a missile.
