N Korea fires missile into waters off Japan

[chahlley]

(World Today • Thursday 4 august 2016)

Intolerable Act of Recklessness: Abe

N Korea fires missile into waters off Japan

SIGNIFICANT STRIDES

Since its fourth nuclear test, North Korea has claimed a series of technical breakthroughs.

It said it had miniaturised a nuclear warhead and successfully tested an engine designed

for an inter-continental ballistic missile that could reach the US mainland.

While some experts say the claims are exaggerated, most acknowledge

that the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes have made significant strides

SEOUL — North Korea fired a ballistic missile into waters near Japan yesterday, a day after South Korea President Park Geun-hye said her government remained firm in its plan to deploy an advanced United States missile defence system despite protests at home and from China.

The North’s mid-range Rodong missile was fired from Eunyul, near the country’s south-western tip, at 7.50am. It flew 998km before plunging into the sea between North Korea and Japan, the South Korean military said in a statement.

Japan’s Defence Minister, Mr Gen Nakatani, told reporters that the missile had landed about 250km off northern Japan, in international waters that the country claims under maritime law as part of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It was the closest a North Korean missile had come to Japan since 1998.

The missile has a range of  1,287km, enough to target much of Japan, and the flight yesterday was one of the longest yet for one of the country’s missile tests. In the past, the North seemed to take steps to keep its missiles from coming too close to Japan, presumably to avoid excessively provoking Tokyo.

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the test as a “serious threat”, saying: “That it landed in our nation’s EEZ makes it an intolerable act of recklessness.”

South Korea’s military said Pyongyang’s “provocative” launch was meant to send a signal to neighbouring countries as well as the South.

“By launching a ballistic missile that can be tipped with a nuclear warhead in the future, North Korea directly and blatantly demonstrated its provocative ambition to target seaports and airfields across South Korea and even its neighbouring countries,” the military statement said.
The US condemned what it called a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology.

“This provocation only serves to increase the international community’s resolve to counter (North Korea’s) prohibited activities,” said Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross.

The South Korean military and the US Strategic Command, which monitors North Korean missile tests, both said that the North had fired two missiles simultaneously, one of which exploded immediately after launch.

The launch was the North’s first ballistic missile test since it tested a Scud-type short-range missile and two mid-range Rodong ballistic missiles on July 19. Those missiles flew from 499 to 595km, not far enough to reach Japan’s EEZ, where the country claims exclusive rights to fishing, drilling and other economic activities.

UNSC resolutions have barred North Korea from developing ballistic missiles.

North Korea was thought to have launched those missiles last month to demonstrate a capability to strike South Korea, despite the South’s plan to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (Thaad) battery, in the town of Seongju by the end of next year, analysts said.

South Korea and the US announced plans last month to deploy the advanced missile defence system, saying that it would defend South Korea as well as US troops in the country.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said the test only served to “underline the need to deploy the Thaad”.

Tensions on the divided Korean peninsula are also building up ahead of an annual South Korea-US military exercise later this month that involves tens of thousands of troops.

North Korea says such drills are a provocative rehearsal for invasion, while Washington and Seoul insist they are purely defensive in nature.

“Our commitment to the defence of our allies, including the Republic of Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, is ironclad,” Mr Ross said yesterday. “We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation.”

There are nearly 30,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea.

North Korea has repeatedly warned of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against the South and US targets there and elsewhere, although the main focus of its nuclear weapons programme is to develop a credible strike threat against the US mainland. AGENCIES