Tokyo activates the alarm system and asks residents to take shelter in safe places

North Korea tests its longest-range missile over Japan

South Koreans at a train station in Seoul watch a news broadcast of a North Korean missile test.

AFP

North Korea tested its longest-range ballistic missile yesterday, which it launched over Japan for the first time in five years, prompting Japanese authorities to activate the warning system, warning residents and asking them to take shelter in fortified places.

It was the first North Korean missile to follow such a trajectory since 2017, and its estimated trajectory of 4,600 km was the longest a North Korean missile had traveled during tests, often at a great altitude to avoid overflying neighboring countries.

In response to the missile test, US and South Korean warplanes conducted training to bomb a target in the Yellow Sea, and the Japanese government asked its citizens to take cover, and some train services were suspended, as the missile flew over its northern territory before falling into the Pacific Ocean.

This was the latest in a series to project power in the region.

A US aircraft carrier made a fleeting stop in South Korea on September 23 for the first time since 2018, and North Korea has conducted five launches in the past 10 days.

And recently witnessed joint exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan, in addition to the visit of US Vice President Kamala Harris to the region, where she stopped in the fortified border area between the two Koreas, accusing North Korea of ​​undermining security.

North Korea accuses the United States and its allies of threatening it with exercises and defense reinforcements.

Washington's response to the recent tests has not been strong, with its focus on the war in Ukraine as well as other domestic and foreign crises, but the US military has intensified its show of force in the region.

In response from the United States and South Korea to the North Korean missile test yesterday, a South Korean Air Force F-15K aircraft dropped two guided missiles at a target off its western coast, in what the South Korean military described as a demonstration of the ability to launch a precision strike against the source of the Korean provocations. North.

Tokyo said it did not take any steps to shoot down the missile.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan will not rule out any options, including counter-attack capabilities, as it looks to bolster its defenses in the face of repeated missile launches by North Korea.

South Korea also said it would strengthen its military and increase its cooperation with allies.

The United States said it strongly condemned North Korea's "dangerous and reckless" decision to launch a long-range ballistic missile over Japan.

"This destabilizing action demonstrates North Korea's blatant disregard for UN Security Council resolutions and international safety standards," National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson said in a statement.

And the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, had a telephone conversation with his North Korean and Japanese counterparts, during which he "strongly condemned" the missile test.

The launch violates UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.

Officials in Tokyo and Seoul said the missile had traveled between 4,500 and 4,600 km and had a maximum altitude of 1,000 km.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it appeared to be a medium-range ballistic missile launched from North Korea's Jagang Province.

Pyongyang has used that province to launch several recent tests, including several missiles it said were "supersonic".

In Seoul, South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol called the test "reckless" and said his country's military, allies and the international community would respond decisively.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described North Korea's actions as "barbaric" and said the government would continue to collect and analyze information.

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