The head of Japanese diplomacy today deemed the frequency of missile launches by North Korea “a provocation” after the last shot from a short-range missile in the Sea of Japan.
The frequent rocket launches are “provocative and indicate that they are turning their backs on the international community,” Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference.
“Therefore, we condemn these acts and are considering a response,” he warned.
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, dubbed the Baltic Sea by the two Koreas, in its ninth launch in the past 20 days, marking another step in the escalation of tension in the region.
This latest launch came just an hour after at least ten North Korean planes made maneuvers near the southern border, forcing Seoul to deploy planes for a possible interception maneuver. On Thursday, Pyongyang had announced it would conduct another cruise missile test to the Yellow Sea.
In response, Seoul also announced the first sanctions in five years against North Korea, affecting 15 North Korean individuals and 16 entities, including four members of the Second Academy of Natural Sciences, a North Korean state organization the UN believes is responsible. is for research. and development of advanced weapons.
Hayashi said Tokyo supported Seoul’s decision but did not indicate whether Japan would follow suit and apply new sanctions against the regime.
The Japanese government will work with the international community, especially South Korea and the United States, to see what the next step should be, he added.
In this regard, Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno emphasized that Japan is monitoring North Korea’s military movements but declined to provide details “so that it is not possible to assess its counter-attack capability”.
Kim Jong-un’s regime has been testing tactical nuclear weapons systems since Sept. 25 in response to recent maneuvers by a US aircraft carrier in the waters off the Korean peninsula.
Source: DN
