North Korea fired a missile that flew over Japan

Europe 1 with AFP 09:16, October 04, 2022

North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew over Japan, a first since 2017, leading Tokyo to activate its warning system and ask the population to take shelter.

Pyongyang's last missile launch over Japan was in 2017, at the height of the "fire and fury" period in which North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump exchanged insults.

Tokyo confirmed the firing, uncharacteristically activating the country's missile warning system and asking the affected population to evacuate.

"An act of violence"

"A ballistic missile likely passed over our country before falling into the Pacific Ocean. This is an act of violence that follows recent repeated firings of ballistic missiles. We strongly condemn it," he said. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

On Tuesday, the South Korean military said it detected the firing of a medium-range ballistic missile, which flew over a distance of about 4,500 km at an altitude of 970 km, at a speed close to Mach 17, flying over Japan to the east.

"The exact details are being thoroughly analyzed in cooperation with the United States and the international community," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

Seoul called the firing a "provocation" that "clearly violates universal principles and United Nations standards."

In the process, Washington promised, after consultation with Japan and South Korea, a "robust" response to this shot.

US National Security Advisor Jack Sullivan also said he wanted to reaffirm his country's "ironclad commitment" to its Asian allies.

Same tone on the side of the European Union.

The President of the European Council Charles Michel condemned "strongly" an "unjustified aggression".

It is "a deliberate attempt" to endanger security in the region", he tweeted. According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, it could be a Hwasong-12 missile, launched by Pyongyang "four times" in the past. If so, this shot would mark a new distance record, Tokyo estimating it at around 4,500 km. 

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Four short-range ballistic missile launches last week 

North Korea, which has nuclear weapons, has this year intensified its plans to modernize its armaments.

In particular, it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time since 2017 and reviewed its legislation to make its status as a nuclear power "irreversible".

Last week, it fired four short-range ballistic missiles.

The firings came as Seoul, Tokyo and Washington on Sept. 30 conducted trilateral anti-submarine drills for the first time in five years, days after U.S. and South Korean naval forces conducted large-scale maneuvers. wide off the peninsula.

North Korea, which is subject to UN sanctions for its weapons programs, generally seeks to maximize the geopolitical impact of its tests by choosing the moment that seems most opportune to it.

"If Pyongyang fired a missile over Japan, it could represent a significant escalation from its recent provocations," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

"North Korea always starts with a low-level provocation and gradually raises the level to attract global media attention," said Go Myong-hyun, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy studies.

Towards a new North Korean nuclear test?

"By launching the missile over Japan, they show that their nuclear threat is not just aimed at South Korea."

South Korean and American officials have been warning for months that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to conduct another nuclear test.

It could be conducted after the next congress of the Chinese Communist Party which begins on October 16, several senior officials of the American command for Asia-Pacific indicated this weekend.

The fact that North Korea has a nuclear weapon is all the more worrying because, unlike other nuclear powers, the Pyongyang regime does not consider this kind of weaponry as a deterrent tool intended never to to be used.

Pyongyang has tested atomic bombs six times since 2006. The latest and most powerful test came in 2017, with an estimated yield of 250 kilotons.