News North Korea fires missile over Japan

The first launch over Japan in five years is part of a clear escalation by the isolated nation ahead of the Chinese Communist Party's congress later this month and U.S. midterm elections in November. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the medium-range missile was fired at 7:23 a.m. from Mupyeong-ri in northern Chagang province and travelled about 4,500 kilometres with a maximum altitude of 970 km, the JCS said. Japan's Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile passed over the northern Tohoku region and flew 4,600 km -- the longest horizontal distance for a projectile launched by the country. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor with expertise in East Asia nonproliferation at the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, tweeted: "Based on the range, apogee and flight time, the North Korea missile was a Hwasong-12 IRBM."

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North Korea's firing of a ballistic missile, which crossed over Japan on Tuesday for the first time in five years, is likely to compel Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to contemplate how to tackle military provocations by Pyongyang. As the two Asian countries do not maintain diplomatic relations, it is believed Tokyo has not had contact with Pyongyang for years, given that they have been at odds over the unresolved abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s. Japanese lawmakers lambasted the latest missile launch by North Korea, with Toshimitsu Motegi, the secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, saying Japan needs to beef up its defence capabilities.

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Petaris said:

I wonder what would happen if they shot down the next one? It would be interesting to see the reaction from North Korea and China.
Perhaps that capability is in place but they don't want to show their hand in response to test fires.

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Petaris said:

I wonder what would happen if they shot down the next one? It would be interesting to see the reaction from North Korea and China.
Perhaps that capability is in place but they don't want to show their hand in response to test fires.

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thomas said:

I'm pretty sure Japan possesses the necessary technology to shoot them down but might be hesitant because of debris, unknown payload, political implications, etc. There was another test reported Thursday morning. Watching the news on NK's missile tests feels a bit like watching the weather forecast: "Today, again 80% chance of high-flying missiles from westerly directions..."

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mdchachi said:

At this point wouldn't you feel uncomfortable if this wasn't happening? I mean it's like when you don't feel an earthquake for a while you get nervous that something is building up. Similarly there's something comforting about the PRK sending missiles over Japan every few years. No?
Actually I was there in 1998 the first time they flew a missile over Japan. At the time I didn't really think much about it. Too busy living the Tokyo life.

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