North Korea successfully test-fired a mid-range ballistic missile into open water Wednesday, according to South Korea’s military – and it appears that a second projectile exploded upon being launched.
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The North Korean missile, a mid-range Rodong missile, was sacked from Eunyul and landed 155 miles off northern Japan.
“The North Koreans seem to have been timing their recent short-range and medium-range missile tests to the weeks ahead of US-South Korean joint exercises”, said Joshua Pollack, editor of the US-based Nonproliferation Review.
South Korean Ambassador Oh Joon said North Korea has conducted 13 rounds of missile launches this year, test-firing 29 missiles of a variety of ranges.
The Japanese defence ministry said one missile landed inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the 200-nautical mile of ocean around a country.
The launch was an “outrageous act and a grave threat to our country’s national security”, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Outsiders believe North Korea intends the launches and tests to display its arsenal and its ability to attack rival South Korea and USA military bases in Asia in reaction to a US plan to deploy an advanced military defense system in the South by the end of 2017.
The United States condemned what it called a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology.
Some also suggest that the North this time round targeted Japan in order to drive a wedge between China and the US’ alliances with Japan and South Korea. China’s primary argument against this missile defense system is that the missile shield is created to intercept intercontinental ballistic missiles and does nothing to prevent the DPRK from using short-range missiles to launch an attack on the Republic of Korea (ROK), which suggests that THAAD may be designed for other purposes.
The missiles were launched from the western North Korean city of Hwangju and landed roughly 250 kilometers off the coast of Akita prefecture in Japan.
“We strongly condemn it”, Japan’s Ambassador Koro Bessho told reporters after the council held an emergency meeting to discuss the launches, calling them “a new step” in North Korea’s development of nuclear and missile capabilities. North Korea called the system a provocation that it says is only aimed at bolstering USA military hegemony in the region.
Several North Korean rockets have gone further and even over Japan.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States “continues to be concerned about North Korea’s behavior and considers it critical to work with the global community, including China and Russian Federation, to urge the North Korean government to stop the launches”. A nuclear missile threat from North Korea was named as the reason for stationing a THAAD unit on the permanent basis.
China, North Korea’s sole ally, and Russian Federation did not back the request. The North’s state media later confirmed that it fired ballistic rockets carrying trigger devices for nuclear warheads as part of simulated pre-emptive atomic attacks on South Korea.
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The North’s mid-range Rodong missile was sacked from Eunyul, near the country’s south-western tip, at 7.50am. North Korea typically protests against the drills, which it says are a rehearsal for invasion. Japan also said its self-defence force would remain on alert in case of further defiant launches from the rogue nation.
