North Korea has fired a powerful missile that could reach anywhere in the United States marking its second launch within hours. The launch was reported by South Korea and Japan. Japan’s Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Shingo Miyake said the missile could travel as far as 15,000 km, landing on Japanese territory or even on the mainland United States. The National Security Council of South Korea called it a destabilizing action and urged strong levels of nuclear deterrence.
President Yoon Suk Yeol called for strengthening South Korea and the United States’ nuclear deterrence. Chinese and North Korean high-level officials held a meeting in Beijing, stressing cooperation. The missile was launched from near Pyongyang and flew about 1,000 km. Japan said it had a flight time of 73 minutes.
This launch followed North Korea’s denunciation of U.S.-led actions, which it had alleged were preparations for war. Concurrent discussions of missile warning data sharing took place between the United States, South Korea, and Japan. In particular, there was deemed to be no room for complacency about North Korea’s cyber activities. The U.S. had said that any nuclear attack would have serious consequences, while North Korea asserted that it is its right as a sovereign state to maintain a ballistic missile development plan for purposes of national self-defense and that the Security Council has no power to prohibit this. The North’s defense ministry attacked joint military drills and the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine, saying they were intended to provoke.
