“This is an act of violence that follows the recent repeated firing of ballistic missiles. We strongly condemn it,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida responded on Tuesday, calling on some residents to evacuate.
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Alert in Japan. The country woke up on Tuesday, October 4, under the threat of North Korea, which fired a medium-range ballistic missile over its country. This first since 2017 constitutes a clear escalation in the intensive arms test campaign carried out by Pyongyang in recent days.
“A ballistic missile likely passed over our country before falling into the Pacific Ocean. This is an act of violence that follows recent repeated ballistic missile fire. We strongly condemn it,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Tuesday. Tokyo has also activated theThe country’s missile warning system: the population concerned was forced to evacuate the premises.
The South Korean army said it detected the firing of a medium-range ballistic missile, which flew over a distance of about 4,500 km at an altitude of 970 km. This missile flew over the archipelago towards the east.
“The exact details are being carefully analyzed in cooperation with the United States and the international community”, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Seoul called the shot a “provocation” violating “clearly the universal principles and standards of the United Nations”. The United States consulted Japan and South Korea for a response “robust” to North Korean fire, the White House said.
The last missile launch by Pyongyang over Japan dates back to 2017, at the height of the period of “fire and fury” during which North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then-US President Donald Trump exchanged insults.