Defense Minister: Government Alerts to Impact of North Korea's Ballistic Missile Launch

JAKARTA - Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto said the Indonesian government was aware of the impact of North Korea's (North Korea) ballistic missile launch into the Sea of ​​Japan a few days ago.

"We hope it certainly doesn't happen. We are taking steps to be vigilant", Prabowo said on the sidelines of the Indo Defense 2022 Expo and Forum activities at JIExpo Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, November 2.

The Indonesian government has prepared several additional hospitals as an anticipatory measure if there are Indonesian citizens (WNI) who become victims of the impact of the ballistic missile launch.

"We will build 27 or we call a total of 27 hospitals. We added that from yesterday the pandemic", he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says Indonesia lacks 12,000 beds. This number, Prabowo continued, is not worse than other countries.

"Many other nations (the conditions) are worse than ours. But, by building 27 hospitals, we will approximately fill half of them, 5,000 beds", he said.

Prabowo said Indonesia is a country that applies the principle of a non-aligned foreign policy, which means that it does not take sides with any country.

"We are not taking sides, we are non-aligned, we are friendly with all countries. So, we are grateful that we can become mediators and coolers. We want to be peacemakers everywhere", he said.

Earlier on Friday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan, according to the South Korean military and the Japanese government. The projectiles of the two missiles fell outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and no damage was reported.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two missiles were launched from the Tongchon area, Kangwon Province, between 11:59 a.m. and 12:18 a.m. local time. The launch marked the 28th missile test by North Korea in 2022, including one involving a cruise missile.

The test comes as Seoul and Washington prepare to conduct joint air force drills Monday for the first time in five years. North Korea had previously fired a ballistic missile on October 14.