South Korea’s SeoulCNN —According to Japan’s Defense Ministry, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday that flew for more than 70 minutes, potentially igniting a new round of hostilities with the United States and its allies.
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Regarding the launch
The missile was launched from North Korea’s interior at 9:59 a.m., according to Japan’s Defense Ministry. It traveled about 1,000 kilometers for 74 minutes before splashing down about 250 kilometers west of Okushiri Island in Hokkaido, outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which stretches 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its coast.
According to Japan’s top cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matusno, the missile flew for 74 minutes to a height of 6,000 km and a distance of 1,000 km, the longest flying period for a North Korean missile in history.
The most recent missile launch, the nation’s first in three months, traveled over 6,000 kilometers (3,700 miles) in altitude and 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) in distance, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff issued a statement saying, “We strongly condemn North Korea’s launch of a long-range ballistic missile as a grave provocation that harms the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community, and is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”
The purpose of the launch
The launch comes after North Korea made strident allegations in recent days, accusing American spy planes of violating airspace in its economic zones, denouncing an American nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine’s recent visit to South Korea, and pledging to take measures in response.
After Pyongyang earlier this week threatened to take down US military reconnaissance aircraft doing what it called “hostile espionage” activities close to its territory, Wednesday’s launch, which landed in waters close to Japan, came as a response.
Eight times, according to the country’s official news agency, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea has charged the United States of violating the economic zone and threatened retaliation. According to a press release from Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a significant ruling party official, “In case of repeated illegal intrusion, the US forces will experience a very critical flight.” She added that South Korea has once more arrogantly taken the initiative in denying the intrusion on North Korea’s sovereignty while continuing to claim that it was a “normal flight of the ‘ROK’ and the US.”
The 74-minute flight duration indicates a slight improvement over the North Korean ICBM missiles tested in March and April of this year, both of which had the necessary range to possibly target the continental United States.
