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North Korea has fired ballistic missile, say reports in South Korea North Korea has fired most powerful ballistic missile yet
(35 minutes later)
North Korea has conducted a night test of an unidentified ballistic missile which flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean, bringing a return to high tension to the region after a lull of more than two months. North Korea has conducted a night test of a long-range ballistic missile which landed off the coast of Japan, triggering a South Korea test-launch in response and bringing a return to high tension to the region after a lull of more than two months.
The type and range of the North Korean missile was not immediately clear, but initial reports from Seoul suggested that it came from a mobile launcher, and was fired at 3 am local time. The mobile night launch appeared aimed at testing new capabilities and demonstrating that Pyongyang would be able to strike back to any attempt at a preventative strike against the regime. The Pentagon issued a statement saying that the weapon tested was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Initial reports from Seoul suggested that it came from a mobile launcher, and was fired at about 3am local time.
The Japanese broadcaster “The missile flew over Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean,” reports Japanese news outlet, NHK. First unconfirmed reports suggested that the flight time could have been as long as 50 minutes, which would be a record for a North Korean missile test. The missile was reported to have flown for 50 minutes, on a very high trajectory reaching 4,500 km above the earth (more than ten times higher than the orbit of Nasa’s International Space Station) before coming down nearly 1,000 km from the launch site off the west coast of Japan.
Within minutes of the launch, the South Korean joint chiefs of staff announced Seoul had carried out an exercise involving the launch of a “precision strike” missile, signaling that it was primed to respond immediately to any attack from the north. This would make it the most powerful of the three ICBM’s North Korea has tested so far. Furthermore, the mobile night launch appeared aimed at testing new capabilities and demonstrating that Pyongyang would be able to strike back to any attempt at a preventative strike against the regime.
It was the first North Korean ballistic missile test since September 15, ending a pause that has been the norm in Autumn. It follows a warning earlier this month from Donald Trump that North Korean threats to strike the US and its allies would be a “fatal miscalculation.” “The missile was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, and traveled about 1,000 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, within Japan’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ). We are working with our interagency partners on a more detailed assessment of the launch,” Pentagon spokesman, Colonel Robert Manning said.
Within minutes of the launch, the South Korean joint chiefs of staff announced Seoul had carried out an exercise involving the launch of a “precision strike” missile, signalling that it was primed to respond immediately to any attack from the North.
“The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America, our territories or our allies. Our commitment to the defence of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad,” Manning said. “We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation.”
It was the first North Korean ballistic missile test since September 15, and follows a warning earlier this month from Donald Trump that North Korean threats to strike the US and its allies would be a “fatal miscalculation.”
“This a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us. And do not try us,” Trump said in a speech to the South Korean national assembly.“This a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us. And do not try us,” Trump said in a speech to the South Korean national assembly.
The launch also marked a rebuff to Russia which had claimed the previous day that the pause in missile launches suggested that Pyongyang was ready to defuse tensions in line with a proposal from Moscow and Beijing that North Korea could freeze missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a scaling down of US and allied military exercises.The launch also marked a rebuff to Russia which had claimed the previous day that the pause in missile launches suggested that Pyongyang was ready to defuse tensions in line with a proposal from Moscow and Beijing that North Korea could freeze missile and nuclear tests in exchange for a scaling down of US and allied military exercises.
“I think North Korea’s restraint for the past two months is within the simultaneous freeze road map” the deputy Russian foreign minister, Igor Morgulov, told reporters in Seoul on Monday. “I think North Korea’s restraint for the past two months is within the simultaneous freeze road map” Igor Morgulov, the deputy Russian foreign minister, told reporters in Seoul on Monday.
“It’s still too early to tell what they tested,” Vipin Narang, an expert on the North Korean nuclear programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. “If it was a new variant, that would be more significant. Otherwise, a nighttime launch is a big part of a testing and training sequence, preparing units for realistic response scenarios on both sides: survivability measures on the DPRK side, and quick reaction from the ROK [South Korean] side.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, an expert on Asia-Pacific security at Yale Law School and the Centre for a New American Security said that the night launch “matters because that’s when they’d launch under operational conditions.Mira Rapp-Hooper, an expert on Asia-Pacific security at Yale Law School and the Centre for a New American Security said that the night launch “matters because that’s when they’d launch under operational conditions.
“The mobile launcher matters because it means their missile capability is increasingly survivable— we can’t threaten to take out a missile on a launchpad if there is no launch pad and we don’t know where it’s coming from,” Rapp-Hooper said.“The mobile launcher matters because it means their missile capability is increasingly survivable— we can’t threaten to take out a missile on a launchpad if there is no launch pad and we don’t know where it’s coming from,” Rapp-Hooper said.