Yet another provocation by North Korea, which this morning launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (IBCM) towards the Sea of Japan, which fell off the island of Hokkaido.
The launch took place at 10.15 local time, Pyongyang's move matured in the aftermath of the short-range ballistic missile launch, preceded by a few hours by the warning from North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui according to which the hermit state will take action "more ferocious" military forces if the United States strengthens its commitment to "extended deterrence" against regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.
The minister was referring to Sunday's trilateral summit between the American, South Korean and Japanese presidents, in which the three leaders agreed to strengthen coordination activities and Washington promised to use a full range of its military capabilities, both nuclear and conventional, to defend allies .
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks of "unacceptable" provocation . Even the US "firmly" condemns the launch, a "brazen violation of the numerous resolutions of the UN Security Council" .
According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the missile had the potential to cover more than 15,000 kilometers and could therefore reach US territory: « It traveled for about 69 minutes and if it had followed a normal trajectory instead of a highly arched one, it would have reached the USA », reported the minister.
The fear of Seoul, Tokyo and Washington is that the seventh nuclear test is imminent after the six conducted by the Pyongyang regime between 2006 and 2017. According to intelligence, all preparations have been completed and Kim Jong-un could give the order at any time .
(Unioneonline/L)