While Seoul and Washington expect an imminent nuclear test from Pyongyang, the projectile fell into the sea west of Japan, once again crossing the Japanese EEZ.
It is not yet 11 a.m. in Seoul on Friday, November 18, when the South Korean general staff “detects a long-range ballistic missile heading for the East Sea“. Shortly after, the projectile reached the Japanese seabed, off the northern island of Hokkaido, once again crossing their EEZ (the exclusive economic zone is a space that extends up to 200 nautical miles, or 370 kilometers from the coast, over which only the sovereign State exercises economic and military rights).
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The authorities quickly recognized the responsibility of their North Korean neighbor. The missile was sent around 10:15 a.m. from Sunan area in Pyongyang. According to Tokyo, the missile traveled about 1000 km and Japanese forces did not attempt to destroy it in flight. The Japanese Defense Minister, Yasukazu Hamada, indicated that the projectile had reached a maximum altitude of 6000 km, and deduced from this that it was therefore a “ICBM-class ballistic missile, although further details are being analyzed“. No damage has, for the moment, been reported on ships or planes, according to the Japanese executive.
While Seoul and Washington expect an imminent nuclear test from Pyongyang, this latest episode in a record series of projectile fires in recent weeks is reigniting tensions in this region.
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“Absolutely unacceptable”
This is not the first time that a North Korean projectile has ended up in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). North Korea “repeats acts of provocation with unprecedented frequency. We strongly reiterate that this is absolutely unacceptable“, denounced Prime Minister Kishida. On November 3, North Korea had already launched an ICBM but that launch had apparently failed, according to Seoul and Tokyo. The country had broken last March a moratorium that it had imposed on itself in 2017 on the launches of this type of long-range missile.
North Korea had already fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday, hours after a warning from its foreign minister who had promised a response “fierceto strengthen the security alliance between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington. The United States, South Korea and Japan have intensified joint military maneuvers in recent months in the face of threats from North Korea, which sees these drills as dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or an overthrow of the regime. by Kim Jong Un.
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During a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, US President Joe Biden tried to convince his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to intercede with North Korea to end the escalation and renounces carrying out a nuclear test, as Washington and Seoul lend him the intention. “This launch constitutes a brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and unnecessarily raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.“, denounced Adrienne Watson, American spokesperson for the National Security Council.
The American president, his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol and the Japanese prime minister also promised a response on Sunday.strong and firmif Pyongyang carries out this test, which would be the first since 2017 and the seventh in its history. “Japan, the United States and South Korea must coordinate closely to work towards the complete denuclearization of North Korea”, added Fumio Kishida, from Bangkok where he is participating in the Asian summit. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui replied that the strengthening of the military alliance between Seoul, Tokyo and Washington was “enter the situation on the Korean Peninsula into an unpredictable phase“.
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emergency meeting
An emergency meeting is organized this Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok (Apec) in order to find solutions to quickly pacify the region. US Vice President Kamala Harris meets jointly with Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida of Japan, Han Duck-soo of South Korea, Anthony Albanese of Australia, Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Justin Trudeau of Canada.
Analysts say North Korea, which under UN resolutions is barred from launching ballistic missiles, has become emboldened by the likelihood of escaping any further UN sanctions due divisions in the Security Council where China and Russia block any American attempt in this direction.