North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Over Japan

N. Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Over Japan

North Korea fired a ballistic missile eastward over Japan, at around 5:57 a.m., Tuesday missile flew more than 2,700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 550 kilometers, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The missile, fired from near Sunan in Pyongyang, flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido before falling into the north Pacific Ocean.

Cheong Wa Dae immediately convened a National Security Council (NSC) session to discuss the latest "grave" provocation. Chung Eui-yong, head of the National Security Office and a top security adviser to President Moon Jae-in, presided over the session.

The North fired the long-range missile three days after it fired three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

The Kim Jong-un regime's latest provocation is expected to reignite tensions on the Korean Peninsula, making it harder for the Moon administration to push its campaign to resolve the North Korean nuclear and missile issues through dialogue.

The United States and Japan also confirmed that the North's missile flew over Japan.

Japan's NHK TV said the missile separated into three parts.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, "We will do our utmost to protect people's lives," calling the missile launch an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat."

The Pentagon also said it was still assessing the latest launch, adding that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined that the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America.

Moon's reaction

President Moon Jae-in ordered the military to display its capabilities that could overwhelm North Korea.

Hours after Pyongyang launched the missile, four F15K fighter jets dropped eight Mark 84 or MK84 multipurpose bombs at a shooting range near the inter-Korean border in Taebaek in a show of overwhelming force, according to Cheong Wa Dae.

In a telephone conversation, Chung Eui-yong, Moon's top security adviser, talked with White House National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster about joint measures in response to the North's provocation.

McMaster said President Donald Trump "fully supported President Moon's North Korea policy" and the South Korean government's measures against North Korean provocations, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.

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