North Korea sparked a new wave of international condemnation today after firing four missiles towards Japan.
Some of the missiles landed 190 miles from Japan’s north-west coast in clear breach of UN resolutions. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe condemned the rogue state for its “extremely dangerous action” and warned: “This clearly shows North Korea has entered a new stage of threat.”
The missiles were said to have been launched at 7.36am local time today and landed within Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) — waters over which it has special rights regarding exploration and energy production.
They were launched from the Tongchang-ri region near the reclusive North’s border with China, according to South Korean military spokesman Roh Jae-cheon.
South Korea said they were unlikely to have been intercontinental ballistic missiles, which could have the potential to reach US territory. The US military said it had detected and tracked what it assessed was a North Korean missile launch, but it did not pose a threat to North America. It is the third time that North Korean missiles have landed within Japan’s EEZ.
In September, the last time, three ballistic missiles flew also about 1,000km and fell off Hokkaido.
North Korea had threatened to take “strong retaliatory measures” after South Korea and the US began annual military drills last week. Mr Abe said “strong protests” had been lodged with the communist nation, telling parliament: “The launches are clearly in violation of Security Council resolutions. It is an extremely dangerous action.”
South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn condemned the launches as a direct challenge to the international community and said Seoul would deploy a US anti-missile defence system despite objections from China.
China is holding its annual meeting of the National People’s Congress. Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: “All sides should exercise restraint and not do anything to irritate each other to worsen regional tensions.”
