“This is the first time that the North Koreans have launched a missile that has actually landed directly in the Japanese EEZ”, Britain’s Ambassador Peter Wilson told reporters.
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The main body of the projectile landed in Japan’s economic exclusion zone, Reuters reports, citing a Japanese defense official.
North Korea routinely conducts weapons tests, but the latest launch came after North Korea warned of unspecified “physical counter-actions” against a USA plan to deploy an advanced missile defense system in South Korea by the end of next year.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called the launch a “grave threat to Japan’s security” and a “reckless act that is hard to forgive”, according to The Japan Times.
North Korea is prohibited from carrying out such missile launches under a March U.N. Security Council resolution.
However, U.S. Strategic Command issued a statement saying it detected what it believes was the simultaneous launch of two presumed No Dong intermediate range ballistic missiles.
Tokyo analyzed data on the missile in cooperation with other concerned nations, of which results show that it was a Rodong type medium-range ballistic missile, which can reach Japan.
The ministry in a statement condemned what it called an “open violation of the UN Security Council resolution and a serious threat to [South Korea], neighboring countries and the worldwide community”.
While some experts say the claims are exaggerated, most acknowledge that the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have made significant strides.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se said Wednesday’s missile test only served to “underline the need to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system”.
Called the Terminal High Altitude Defense system, or THAAD, it is created to intercept ballistic missiles flying at high altitudes. The U.S. anti-missile system is created to shoot down missiles at a much higher altitude of 40-150 km.
A row has erupted between the USA and China, after Beijing linked the installation of a United States missile defence system in South Korea to increased missile tests by Pyongyang this year.
China and Russian Federation have strongly opposed to THAAD in South Korea as it raises tensions in Northeast Asia.
Richey-Allen said the USA commitment to defending allies like South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad”. And the result of the threats may further embolden South Korean resolve.
Now to a troubling development out of North Korea.
Dr Lee Seong Hyon of the Sejong Institute think-tank noted that the missile was launched from North Korea’s west coast, and that, if fired from its usual test site in the east coast, could have hit Japan.
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Though the country has continued to improve its nuclear and missile capabilities, it has yet to successfully pair the two.
