North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile over Japan on the 4th. The Japanese Defense Ministry concluded that it may be the same type as the Hwasong-12 missile that North Korea has tested four times in the past.

(AP file photo)

Suspected to be Hwasong-12 Guam is also in range

[Commissioner Lin Cuiyi in Japan, International Press Center/Comprehensive Report] North Korea launched a suspected "Hwasong-12" medium-range ballistic missile on the morning of the 4th, flying over Aomori Prefecture, Japan, and then falling into the exclusive area about 3,200 kilometers away from the east coast of Japan. Outside the Economic Zone (EEZ).

North Korea has launched missiles five times in recent days. The missile flew about 4,600 kilometers and the U.S. territory of Guam was within range.

This is also the first time that North Korea's projectiles flew over Japan after a five-year lapse since September 2017. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expressed strong condemnation, and the government rarely activated the "J-Alert" to remind people to evacuate .

Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin successively, confirming that Japan, the United States and Japan, the United States and South Korea will continue to cooperate closely to achieve denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions, and urged the Security Council to take further countermeasures.

Kishida held talks with visiting U.S. Indo-Pacific Command commander John Aquilino in the morning and jointly condemned North Korea's provocative actions. Kishida is scheduled to have an emergency call with U.S. President Biden in the evening.

European Council President Charles Michel also condemned North Korea for endangering security, emphasizing that it stands with Japan and South Korea.

Please read on...

Prime Minister Kishida strongly condemns emergency call with Biden

Japanese media reported that the missile was launched at 7:22 am local time on the 7th, passed over Aomori Prefecture between 28 and 29 minutes, and fell into the Pacific Ocean on the east side of Japan at 44 minutes.

Japan announced that the missile has a maximum altitude of about 1,000 kilometers and a flight distance of about 4,600 kilometers. It is likely to be the same type as the intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) "Hwasong-12" that has been launched four times in the past.

Data published by South Korea also detected a flight speed of Mach seventeen, or seventeen times the speed of sound.

The Sankei Shimbun reported that North Korea launched the "Taepodong-1" missile in 1998, which flew over Japan for the first time and landed on the Pacific Ocean on the east coast. After five years in September, it is also the missile with the longest flight distance. If the recent North Korean launch site Sunan and Guam are about 3,200 kilometers away, Guam is already within the range of this missile and is considered to have the ability to contain the U.S. military. intention of.

Affected by the missile launch by North Korea, the two-way trains between Shin-Aomori Station and Morioka Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen in Japan and between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station and Shin-Aomori Station on the Hokkaido Shinkansen were temporarily suspended.

Japanese government spokesman Hiroichi Matsuno said in a statement that the most serious protest and strong condemnation had been lodged with North Korea through the embassy in Beijing, and he emphasized that through the revision of the national security strategy, consideration would be given to including the preservation of "counter-attack capabilities" and other aspects. possible responses.