North Korean Missile Falls Near Its Territory, Japanese PM: Repeated and Unacceptable Provocation

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. (Wikimedia Commons/)

JAKARTA - North Korea allegedly fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the East Sea on Friday, the South Korean military said, in apparent protest at the United States move to strengthen "expanded deterrence" protections against South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area of ​​Pyongyang at 10:15 a.m. But did not provide other details, reported the Korea Times on November 18.

Separately, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said in Tokyo, the "intercontinental ballistic missile class" projectile flew about 1,000 kilometers in a "high" trajectory and reached an altitude of up to 6,000 km.

He added that the government did not issue an order to destroy it.

The missile is said to have landed about 200 km (124 miles) west of Oshima-Oshima Island in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido.

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the ICBM was likely to fall within Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Sea of ​​Japan, saying the move was completely unacceptable.

"North Korea is repeating provocations with unprecedented speed and that is completely unacceptable", PM Kishida told reporters in the Thai capital Bangkok, adding there were no reports of damage to aircraft or ships, citing Kyodo News.

Japan has strongly protested to North Korea about the launch, he said. The missile likely landed in waters west of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, the prime minister said.

The launch came just a day after North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui warned his country would take "tougher" military action if the US strengthened its security commitments to use various military capabilities, including nuclear options, to defend allies.

Hours after Choe's remarks, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile in the Wonsan area of Kangwon Province into the East Sea.

The North Korean reaction follows a trilateral summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and his US and Japanese counterparts Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, respectively, on the sidelines of the annual regional summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Sunday.