North Korea launched a ballistic missile that landed in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula on Thursday. As a preventive step, Tokyo issued an order instructing residents on an island to seek refuge. That order has since been revoked.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missile was launched near Pyongyang and flew toward the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. The missile was thought to be of medium or long range, although it was unclear how far it flew, according to The Associated Press (AP).
Japanese authorities issue evacuation advisory due to missile launch, later reverse the decision
Following the launch on Thursday, the Japanese authorities issued an alert advising inhabitants to seek refuge on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Later, the administration reversed its decision, claiming that the missile could not land near the island based on its investigation. Japan stated that the missile landed in water but did not indicate where it landed.
After a North Korean intermediate-range missile sailed over Japan last October, the Japanese authorities issued a similar evacuation advisory. That launch was carried out to demonstrate the missile’s ability to reach Guam, a US Pacific island. While there were no reports of damage when the missile landed in the Pacific, Japan encouraged citizens in the northeastern regions to seek cover and suspended train services.
North Korea’s launch on Thursday is the latest in a series of nuclear tests conducted by the country this year. According to the Associated Press, this comes after North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, stated that the country’s nuclear weapons would be expanded in “practical and offensive” ways.
The North Korean administration has long claimed that the US-led military exercises are in response to Washington’s animosity toward Pyongyang. North Korea claimed it was obliged to build nuclear weapons because the US refused to relax sanctions in exchange for halting missile tests.
Since the disclosure of a new type of warhead earlier this month, foreign experts have expressed concern that North Korea may conduct its first significant nuclear test in more than five years, according to the AP.
South Korea expresses concern over North Korea’s lack of response to cross-border hotlines
North Korea has launched over 30 missiles this year in reaction to South Korean and US military maneuvers, which Pyongyang sees as a recipe for invasion. Both Seoul and Washington have refuted Pyongyang’s assertions, claiming that the drills were defensive in nature and undertaken in response to North Korea’s escalating nuclear threat.
North Korea has not responded to calls from South Korea on its cross-border inter-Korean hotlines for over a week. This has caused Seoul concern since communication through those channels is necessary to avert accidental conflicts between the two Koreas near their disputed western sea border.
Kwon Youngse, South Korea’s Unification Minister, “strongly regretted” North Korea’s “unilateral and irresponsible attitude” in not replying to the hotlines. The minister also warned of legal action against Pyongyang for using South Korean assets at a now-stalled inter-Korean facility in North Korea.
Following North Korea’s nuclear test in 2016, South Korean companies withdrew from Kaesong. Recently, the North’s state media broadcast footage of what appeared to be South Korean commuter buses on the streets of Kaesong and Pyongyang, the AP report said.
Later this month, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet with his US colleague Joe Biden, and North Korea’s missile testing and nuclear weapons are expected to be prominent topics of discussion. The South Korean administration, led by Yoon, is seeking assurances from Washington that it will use its military weapons to respond if North Korea launches a nuclear assault on the South.
According to experts, world leaders will also convene and meet in Japan for next month’s G7 summit, when diplomatic pressure on North Korea will be maintained. China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council, have vetoed stricter sanctions against North Korea in recent months.