“It’s a serious threat against our country’s security”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters.
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A U.S. State Department spokesman condemned the launch, and said it would “only increase the global community’s resolve to counter” North Korea’s actions. The UNSC slapped its toughest sanctions on Pyongyang over its fourth nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch in the following month.
U.S. Ambassador Powers said any suggestion that the North Korean missile tests were provoked by South Korea’s decision to deploy an American advanced missile defense system “is not grounded in reality and it’s not grounded in history”.
On July 8, South Korea and the USA abruptly announced an agreement to deploy one THAAD battery by the end of next year.
“This shows how realistic the North’s missile threat is”, Yun told reporters.
The defense officials condemned the missile tests and reiterated that they will continue to cooperate closely and share information on North Korea’s missile threat, according to the statement.
“Initial indications reveal one of the missiles exploded immediately after launch, while the second was tracked over North Korea and into the Sea of Japan”.
South Korea’s UN Ambassador Oh Joon said so far this year North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of missile tests – including the firing of 29 missiles of different varieties, ranges and trajectories using mobile launchers and submarines.
According to the South Korean and Japanese announcements, one suspected Rodong missile lifted off from the North’s western Hwanghae province and flew across the country before falling in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The warhead of the missile launched on Wednesday landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.
This week, the communist nation of North Korea reportedly declared war against the USA, which the latter had not taken seriously.
“We reiterate the call on the DPRK to heed the united call of the worldwide community to reverse its course and return to the process of honest dialogue”, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, using the initials for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the North’s official name.
The proposal to make the SDF ready to intercept projectiles at any time reflects concerns that the use of mobile launch pads could make North Korean missile launch preparations hard to detect in advance, the source said.
North Korea wants extended range missiles that can target the continental U.S. In March 2013, North Korea revealed that Austin, Texas (where South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. has a manufacturing facility) is already a designated target.
When active, the THAAD system should be able to defend two-thirds of South Korea from an attack by its northern neighbor.
In 2011 Inada was one of three Japanese lawmakers who were reportedly denied entry into South Korea, because they planned to visit islands, known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan, that are claimed by both countries.
But China was quick to dismiss the reports, saying South Korea has misunderstood the actions of the North.
North Korea’s first missile that landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters.
Analysts said the high-altitude flight meant North Korea had made progress in its push to be able to strike U.S. forces throughout the region.
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And tensions on the divided Korean peninsula are also building up ahead of a large-scale South Korea-US military exercise that begins on August 22 and involves tens of thousands of troops.
