North Korean state media released an image in October that purportedly showed a North Korean missile being launched.
Image: AP
As on the previous day, North Korea appears to have launched several ballistic missiles again early Thursday. Millions of Japanese have been told to take cover in their homes.
According to Japanese sources, North Korea fired ballistic missiles again on Thursday. Residents in central Japan have been urged to take shelter in their homes, according to the Tokyo government’s broadcast alert system. The warning said a missile was flying over Japan. The Japanese Ministry of Defense later stated that the missile did not fly over Japanese territory. About an hour after the first launch, the South Korean military and Japan Coast Guard reported a second launch from North Korea. Japan reported a third shortly thereafter.
The first bullet went through a stage separation, suggesting it could have been a long-range weapon, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The Japanese broadcaster FNN quoted government circles as saying that it fell in the Pacific Ocean around 1100 kilometers east of Japan.
Permanent crisis boils up
In early October, North Korea fired a missile that flew over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in almost five years. The government in Pyongyang fired at least 23 rockets towards the sea on Wednesday. A missile crossed the de facto maritime border and landed off the coast not far from South Korean territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called it a “territorial encroachment” and the Washington government condemned the move as “reckless”.
