World
North Korea missile launch sparks panic and evacuations in Japan
A missile launched by North Korea caused alarm and panic in Japan before the weapon fell into the sea.
North Korea launched the missile between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korean officials said, calling it a “grave provocation”.
A South Korean military official said the test apparently involved a new weapons system displayed at a recent North Korean military parade, possibly using solid fuel.
It prompted the Japanese government to issue an evacuation order on Hokkaido Island, though it was later retracted.
The South Korean military said it was on high alert and coordinating closely with its main ally, the United States, which “strongly condemned” what the White House said in a statement was a long-range ballistic missile test.
Japan’s defence minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said it was an ICBM-class (intercontinental ballistic missile) weapon which appeared to have been fired eastward at a high angle.
The projectile eventually fell into the sea to the east of North Korea.
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called a National Security Council meeting in response to the launch.
A student on Hokkaido Island told Japanese broadcaster NHK the alert caused momentary fear and confusion at a train station.
“For a second in the train there was panic, but a station worker said to calm down, and people did,” he said.
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While condemning the latest in a string of North Korean missile tests, the US renewed its offer to open talks.
US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the latest launch “needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilising the security situation in the region”.
“The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilising actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement,” she added.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to double down on his nuclear push this year, calling for an “exponential increase” in the country’s nuclear warheads, mass production of battlefield tactical nuclear weapons targeting “enemy” South Korea and the development of more advanced ICBMs.
A solid-propellant ICBM is one of the key high-tech weapons the North Korean leader has vowed to build to better cope with what he calls US military threats.
Pyongyang has maintained its weapons testing activities are legitimate counteractions to military drills between US and South Korean forces, which it views as an invasion rehearsal.
Washington and Seoul have said their exercises are defensive in nature.