North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile that landed near Japanese waters Friday in its second major weapons test this month that showed a potential ability to launch nuclear strikes on all of the United States mainland.The United States quickly condemned the launch and vowed to take all necessary measures to guarantee the safety of its mainland and allies South Korea and Japan.
Vice President Kamala Harris will separately meet with leaders of allies who are attending a regional forum in Bangkok to discuss North Koreas recent ballistic missile launch.We strongly condemn these actions and we again call for North Korea to stop further unlawful, destabilizing acts.
On behalf of the United States, I reaffirm our ironclad commitment to our Indo-Pacific alliances, Harris said at the start of the meeting.
Together the countries represented here will continue to urge North Korea to commit to serious and sustained diplomacy.The Norths ongoing torrid run of weapons tests aims to advance its nuclear arsenal and win greater concessions in eventual diplomacy, and the launches come as China and Russia have opposed United States moves to toughen sanctions aimed at curbing North Koreas nuclear program.South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the ICBM launch from North Koreas capital region around 10:15 a.m.
and the weapon flew toward the Norths eastern coast across the country.
Japan said the ICBM appeared to have flown on a high trajectory and landed west of Hokkaido.According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the North Korean missile flew about 6,000-6,100 kilometers (3,600-3,790 miles) at a maximum altitude of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters the altitude suggests the missile was launched on a high angle.
He said depending on the weight of a warhead to be placed on the missile, the weapon has a range exceeding 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), in which case it could cover the entire mainland United States.United States National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the launch needlessly raises tensions and risks destabilizing regional security while showing the Norths prioritizing of unlawful weapons programs over the well-being of its people.
She said President Joe Biden was briefed over the launch.Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement, Watson said.Hamada, the Japanese defense minister, called the launch a reckless act that threatens Japan as well as the region and the international community.South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a grave provocation and serious threat to undermine international and regional peace and security.
It said South Korea maintains readiness to make an overwhelming response to any North Korean provocation amid close coordination with the United States.After being briefed over the launch, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered officials to boost security cooperation with the United States and Japan and implement unspecified deterrence steps that were previously agreed upon with the United States.
Yoon also ordered officials to push for strong international condemnations and sanctions on North Korea, according to his office.North Korea also launched an ICBM on Nov.
3, but experts said that weapon failed to fly its intended flight and fell into the ocean after a stage separation.
That test was believed to have involved a developmental ICBM called Hwasong-17.
North Korea has two other types of ICBM Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15 and their test-launches in 2017 proved they could potentially reach parts of the United States homeland.The Hwasong-17 has a longer potential range than the others, and its huge size suggests its designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat missile defense systems.
Some experts say the Nov.
3 test showed some technological progress in the development of the Hwasong-17, given that in its earlier test in March, the missile exploded soon after liftoff.It wasnt immediately known if North Korea launched a Hwasong-17 missile again on Friday or something else.In recent months, North Korea has performed dozens of shorter-range missile tests that it called simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and United States targets.
But it had halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday.Before Thursdays launch, the Norths foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened to launch fiercer military responses to the United States bolstering its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan.Choe was referring to Bidens recent trilateral summit with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia.
In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Koreas recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence.
Biden reaffirmed the United States commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including its nuclear arms.Choe didnt say what steps North Korea could take but said that the United States will be well aware that it is gambling, for which it will certainly regret.Pyongyang sees the United States military presence in the region as proof of its hostility toward North Korea.
It has said its recent series of weapons launches were its response to what it called provocative military drills between the United States and South Korea.There have been concerns that North Korea might conduct its first nuclear test in five years as its next major step toward bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies.North Korea has been under multiple rounds of United Nations sanctions over its previous nuclear and missile tests.
But no fresh sanctions have been applied this year though it has conducted dozens of ballistic missile launches, which are banned by U.N.
Security Council resolutions.Thats possible because China and Russia, two of the U.N.
councils veto-wielding members, oppose new U.N.
sanctions.
Washington is locked in a strategic competition with Beijing and in a confrontation with Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.Source: Associated Press.
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