North Korea Test-Fired Ballistic Missile over Japan

Pyongyang launched a missile Tuesday morning that flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The projectile, presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), flew more than 2,700 km before landing at sea

North Korea Test-Fired Ballistic Missile over Japan

TV news program reporting North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo, Japan (Photo: AP)

North Korea on Tuesday fired a mid-range ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload over Japan for the first time, in a strategic provocation aimed at escalating tensions in the region. The launch prompted the government in Tokyo to warn residents in its path to take cover.

Yonhap News reports that the missile was fired eastward from the vicinity of Sunan in Pyongyang at around 5:57 am, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

"It passed through the sky over Japan" and fell into the North Pacific Ocean, the JCS said. It added the projectile, presumed to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), flew more than 2,700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 550 km.

According to Japan’s defense minister Itsunori Onodera, the missile launched Tuesday was very likely a Hwasong-12, which is fired from mobile launchers. North Korea successfully tested a Hwasong-12 in May, according to The New York Times.

"North Korea’s reckless action of launching a missile that passed over Japan is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat," The NY Times cited Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, as saying. Abe told reporters that he had already spoken with President Trump. "Japan and the US stances are completely matched," he said, adding that they discussed ways to tighten pressure on North Korea.

In a statement, the South Korean government strongly condemned the North for the latest missile launch and urged it to choose the path of denuclearization, not such a "reckless provocation." South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered his troops to demonstrate the capability for "strong retaliation" as his office Cheong Wa Dae immediately convened a National Security Council (NSC) session.

The UN Security Council decided to hold an emergency meeting in New York later in the day on punitive steps.

CNN adds that this is the fourth missile North Korea has fired in four days. Pyongyang tested three short-range ballistic missiles, one of which failed, from Kangwon province that landed into the sea off the Korean Peninsula.