Japan claims last missile launched by North Korea was capable of reaching the United States | International

The authorities of South Korea and Japan have denounced this Friday the launch of a new North Korean ballistic missile towards the Sea of ​​Japan, a day after Pyongyang fired another short-range projectile. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has stated that the "apparent intercontinental ballistic missile probably fell within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone" near the northern region of Hokkaido, he told reporters in Thailand, where he is visiting. , reports the Kiodo news agency. Kishida has condemned the repeated launches, calling them "totally unacceptable." The prime minister, however, has assured that no damage has been reported to ships or planes.

The Japanese Coast Guard, which alerted the fishing boats, has reported, an hour after the launch of the missile, that the projectile was expected to fall some 210 kilometers west of the island of Oshima, in Hokkaido, in the north of the archipelago. The projectile traveled a distance of about 1,000 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 6,100 kilometers and a speed of Mach 22, more than 26,000 kilometers per hour, according to the South Korean armed forces, which described the launch as "a threat to peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. The intelligence authorities in Seoul and Washington are analyzing the details of what happened.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has said that the missile would have flown for about 69 minutes since it was launched and that, according to estimates, this type of projectile could fly up to 15,000 kilometers and reach US territory. The President of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, has brought together the country's National Security Council to implement "deterrence measures" during the visit of the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, to the Asian country.

North Korea warned the United States on Thursday that it would take "fiercer" military action in the event of continued military activities alongside Seoul and Tokyo in the region, the state news agency KCNA reported. This new test by Pyongyang further increases tensions in the region after in the last two months North Korea has launched fifty ballistic missiles in tests prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions, in response to the US and South Korean military maneuvers that he considers an invasion rehearsal.

A risk to regional stability

The US government maintains that the North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launched today unnecessarily escalates tension and poses a destabilizing risk to the security situation in the region. In a statement, the White House called the launch a "blatant" violation of many UN Security Council resolutions and urged all countries to condemn it and call on North Korea to come to the negotiating table to have a “serious” conversation.

The Administration led by Democrat Joe Biden has indicated that the door to diplomacy is not closed, but that the Pyongyang regime must immediately cease its destabilizing actions.

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