The United States and Japan on Monday condemned the launch of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a State Department spokesperson said.
“These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches carried out by Pyongyang this year, violate several United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the US State Department spokesperson told AFP in a statement, while it was still Sunday in that country.
The launches pose a threat to North Korea’s neighbors [República Popular Democrática da Coreia, nome oficial da Coreia do Norte] and endanger regional security,” the statement said.
Japan also reacted negatively, admitting that the last two North Korean missile launches “pose a threat to peace and stability in the region.”
“We strongly condemn” these launches, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida noted, stressing that the shots also violate sanctions on Pyongyang adopted by the United Nations Security Council.
The South Korean armed forces have confirmed that the projectile launched today by neighboring North Korea is an intercontinental ballistic missile.
“Our forces have suspectedly detected a long-range ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea. [nome dado ao mar do Japão nas duas Coreias] around 8:24 a.m. (11:24 p.m. on Sunday in Lisbon), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense confirmed the time of the launch, adding that the missile landed around 9:37 a.m. (12:37 a.m. in Lisbon) outside the country’s special economic zone, 250 kilometers west of Okushiri island, near Hokkaido (north ). This was reported by Japanese state broadcaster NHK.
The duration of the flight coincides with previous launches of this type of missile by Pyongyang and with the curved trajectory used to test this type of missile.
The launch comes after North Korea launched another short-range ballistic missile on Sunday and marks the 27th weapons test recorded by Pyongyang this year alone.
The shooting also comes three days after South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Tae-hyo, stated that signs had been discovered that Kim Jong Un’s regime could launch an ICBM in the coming days.
Pyongyang’s last tested ICBM was launched in July, when it fired a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 projectile from the outskirts of the North Korean capital.
With this launch, the regime reached a record of five intercontinental missiles launched this year.
This latest North Korean move also comes after Pyongyang announced on November 23 the cancellation of the application of a military pact with Seoul signed in 2018 to reduce tensions in the border areas.
Source: DN
