North Korea fires ballistic missile again - Japan calls on numerous residents to evacuate

Created: 04/10/2022, 06:55

By: Markus Hofstetter

North Korea is escalating its latest series of missile tests.

For the first time in five years, a ballistic missile flew over Japan.

A public missile alert was raised there.

Seoul/Tokyo - North Korea has launched a ballistic missile for the fifth time in a few days.

The last, previous test took place on October 1, when the communist country fired two short-range shells.

According to Yonhap, the rocket was launched on Tuesday (local time) in the northern North Korean province of Jagang near the border with China.

The South Korean news agency cites information from the South Korean military.

The medium-range ballistic missile flew over the Japanese archipelago and landed 3,000 kilometers east of it in the Pacific.

North Korea fires ballistic missile: Projectile flew a total of 4500 kilometers

According to initial estimates, the rocket flew a total of 4,500 kilometers and had a maximum altitude of around 970 kilometers.

According to Japan's Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, this is North Korea's furthest horizontal range for a missile.

A television screen showing a news program covering North Korea's missile launch is seen at Seoul Train Station in South Korea.

(Photograph from October 4, 2022) © Lee Jin-Man/dpa/picture alliance

It was the first launch of a North Korean medium-range missile in over eight months, according to the South Korean military.

It was the first time in almost five years and the seventh time that North Korea has fired a missile over Japan.

North Korea fires ballistic missile: Japan triggers public missile alert

The launch sparked a rare public missile alert that warned residents of the northern Japanese island of Hokaido and Aomori Prefecture on the northern tip of Japan's main island of Honshu to take shelter in their homes with warning messages, the Kyodo news agency reported. 

The reaction in South Korea and Japan is correspondingly harsh.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol spoke of a "ruthless" provocation and called for "appropriate measures" to be taken, as reported by Yonhap.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the new missile test on Tuesday "outrageous".

North Korea fires ballistic missile in response to joint South Korean-US military maneuvers

UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.

Experts see North Korea's recent rocket tests as a reaction to the recently held naval maneuvers by South Korean and US forces.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan also took part in the four-day naval exercises.

It was the first deployment of a US aircraft carrier to South Korea in almost four years. 

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North Korea regularly accuses the United States of preparing an attack through its military maneuvers with South Korea - which both countries deny.

Tensions in the region have risen sharply following a series of nuclear-capable missile tests by North Korea this year.

The country is also reportedly preparing to launch a submarine ballistic missile and possibly its first nuclear test since 2017.