China’s Defense Ministry has angrily rejected accusations from Japan that the Chinese military is destabilizing the regional military balance by seeking to change the status-quo in the East and South China Seas, accusing Japan of seeking to deceive the worldwide community and sow discord between China and its neighbors.
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The latest data from the South Korean government indicates 815 North Koreans sought asylum in the South from January to July 2016, up 15.6 percent year-on-year, local newspaper Asia Business reported.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said the missile landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the 200-nautical-mile offshore area where a nation has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: “It’s a serious threat against our country’s security”.
In June, North Korea, after a string of failures, sent a mid-range ballistic missile more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high.
North Korea had threatened a “physical response” against the deployment decision.
His comments came after top Washington envoy John Kerry warned the North of “real consequences” if it continues nuclear and missile tests in defiance of UN sanctions, as the worldwide community attempts to rein in the rogue nation. Such provocations only serve to increase the worldwide community’s resolve to counter the North’s prohibited activities, including through implementing existing U.N. Security Council sanctions, she said.
U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning, visiting Osan Air Base Tuesday during his first Pacific tour since taking the job in May, said he couldn’t confirm that report, although he sees the potential for the more advanced systems.
The launch by the North is an apparent show of force against the planned deployment of a USA missile defence system in South Korea.
North Korea is prohibited from carrying out such missile launches under a March U.N. Security Council resolution.
North Korea is expected to carry out more weapons launches in coming weeks to protest annual U.S.
The committee said the system could not even protect the South Korean capital of Seoul and will only put the Korean Peninsula under a “cold war situation”. Un’s placement on this list was enough for North Korea to believe that an act of war was committed against them.
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The top US commander in South Korea insisted Tuesday that an advanced missile defense system is safe and must be deployed in a southeastern region to maximize the area being defended.
