According to Japanese information, Kim Jong-un’s military has again tested three ballistic missiles, including a possible ICBM, which have disappeared from radar over the Sea of Japan.
When Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier traveled to Ukraine about a week ago, he had to go to the air-raid shelter during his visit to the northern Ukrainian city of Koryukivka. Steinmeier is currently in Japan. And there, too, there was a missile alarm, which, according to media reports, did not affect Steinmeier personally.
The Japanese News Agency Kyodo had initially reported, citing the government in Tokyo, that a ballistic missile fired by North Korea on Thursday (local time) flew over Japanese territory and landed in the Pacific. The Japanese government later corrected the message: North Korea had again tested three ballistic missiles, one of which had disappeared from radar over the Sea of Japan. There was no damage in Japan from the missiles. However, residents in northeastern and central Japan prefectures had previously been alerted to stay indoors for safety.
Of the three North Korean missiles, the first may have been an ICBM, the South Korean Armed Forces General Staff said. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the first missile was launched around 7:40 a.m. local time. The potential trajectory could have sent the missile flying over Japan. But she disappeared from the radar over the Japan Sea. The reason for the disappearance from the radar is still under investigation, it said. On October 4, a North Korean missile flew over Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea’s repeated missile tests “unacceptable”.
The new North Korean missile tests are seen in South Korea as a response to the largest air force exercise by South Korean and US forces in several years. North Korea had accused the two countries of “reckless” military provocations and threatened countermeasures. The multi-day exercises in South Korea will continue until Friday. Steinmeier plans to fly to Seoul on Thursday evening (local time).
The US sharply condemned the test on Thursday, urging North Korea to halt further “destabilizing” tests and return to negotiations on the nuclear weapons program, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.