Global Courant 2023-04-13 05:47:11
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea launched a ballistic missile toward the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan on Thursday, prompting Japan to order residents of an island to take shelter as a precaution.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staffs said the North Korean missile was flying toward the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, but did not provide further details, including how far it flew and exactly what type of weapon the North launched. Japan said the missile landed in waters, did not immediately work out.
Earlier, the launch had prompted the Japanese government to urge people to seek shelter on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Japanese media later reported that the Japanese government had withdrawn the warning and distress message to local governments, saying there was no possibility of a missile landing in the Hokkaido area.
The launch, the latest in the North’s barrage of weapons tests this year, came days after leader Kim Jong-un pledged to bolster his nuclear arsenal in more “practical and offensive” ways.
Japan issued a similar evacuation order last October when a North Korean medium-range missile flew over Japan in a launch that showed it could reach the US Pacific Territory of Guam. At the time, Japanese authorities warned residents in the northeastern regions to seek shelter and stopped trains, though no damage was reported before the weapon landed in the Pacific.
This year, North Korea has launched about 30 missiles in response to South Korean-American military exercises it considers rehearsal for an invasion. South Korean and US officials say their exercises are defensive in nature and organized to respond to North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats.
At a military meeting on Monday, Kim reviewed the country’s front-line strike plans and various combat documents and stressed the need to strengthen its nuclear deterrent with “increasing speed in a more hands-on and offensive manner,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency. of North Korea.
KCNA said unspecified issues related to strengthening defense capabilities and perfecting war preparations to counter the threat of its rivals’ military exercises were discussed at the meeting.
North Korea has long argued that US-led military exercises in the region are evidence of Washington’s hostility to Pyongyang. The North has said it was forced to develop nuclear weapons to meet US military threats, though US and South Korean officials have steadfastly said they have no intention of invading the North.
There are concerns that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test in more than five years since unveiling a new type of warhead earlier this month. Foreign experts debate whether North Korea has developed warheads small and light enough to fit on missiles.
Thursday’s launch also came as South Korea accused North Korea of failing to respond to South Korean calls on a series of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines for about a week. The North’s alleged suspension of messaging on its communications channels could be concerning, as one of the hotlines’ jobs is to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals’ disputed western maritime border.
Earlier this week, South Korea’s unification minister Kwon Youngse, Seoul’s foreman on the north, expressed “deep regret” over North Korea’s “one-sided and irresponsible attitude” to the hotlines. Kwon also warned of unspecified legal action over the North’s use of South Korean assets in a now-stalled inter-Korean factory park in North Korea.
South Korea withdrew its companies from Kaesong in North Korea in 2016 following a North Korean nuclear test, removing the last remaining significant symbol of cooperation between the rivals. North Korean state media recently showed what appeared to be South Korean commuter buses cruising the streets of Kaesong and Pyongyang.
North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal is expected to be a major topic at a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden in Washington later this month. Yoon’s government is seeking stronger US assurances that it will certainly and quickly use all of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to protect South Korea in the event of a North Korean nuclear strike.
North Korea’s weapons tests have also led to the urgency for Seoul and Tokyo to strengthen their defense positions in conjunction with their alliances with the United States.
Experts say talks between world leaders at next month’s Group of Seven meetings in Japan could also be crucial to maintaining diplomatic pressure on North Korea after the UN Security Council was rendered dysfunctional by confrontations between permanent members. Beijing and Moscow last year blocked a US-led push to tighten Security Council sanctions against North Korea over some of its major missile tests, underlining the divide widened by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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