North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Which Passes Over Japan
Update 1: According to Fox News, the U.S. has now confirmed the latest North Korean missile launch.
U.S. OFFICIAL CONFIRMS #NORTHKOREA FIRED BALLISTIC MISSILE: FOX NEWS
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All the diplomatic posturing, the jawboning, the UN sanctions, and threats over the past three weeks has achieved absolutely nothing because as Yonhap and NHK report, North Korea has just launched an “unidentified” missile eastward from the capital Pyongyang.
Following the launch Japan has issued a missile alert to mobile phones and on national television, with the government advising people outside to take shelter immediately.
Worse, it appears that the missile has once again flown over Japan:
- NORTH KOREA MISSILE PASSES OVER JAPAN, GOVT SAYS
- N.KOREA MISSILE PASSES OVER JAPAN’S HOKKAIDO, GOVT SAYS
As NHK further adds, the missile which was launched at 6:57am local time, passed over Hokkaido at 7:06am local time, and came down in the Pacific Ocean, some 2,000 KM east of Japan’s Erimo Misaki.
The missile flew a total of 3,700 kilometers and reached an altitude of 770km, according to Yonhap.
Japan’s cabinet minister Suga said that the missile situation is similar to that on August 29, NHK adds, and that Japan will take appropriate response in contact with the US and South Korea.
NHK adds that Japan did not attempt to shoot down the missile though the South Korean military has confirmed it fired a test missile into the sea as part of training drill.
The South Korean presidential office has noted that the country’s national security council will meet at 8am local time.
Separately, according to South Korea military, North Korea fired unidentified missile in eastern direction. South Korea’s president Moon will chair a national security meeting shortly.
And now we await whether the US will finally escalate militarily or once again use even harsher, and more powerless, language.
