Alarms blared from cellphones, radios and public loudspeakers and fishermen hurried back to shore in northern Japan on Thursday after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile above its eastern waters, adding to a recent barrage of provocative weapons demonstrations that officials say may culminate with a nuclear test in coming weeks.
The ICBM test, which was followed by two short-range ballistic launches into the sea, was swiftly condemned by North Korea’s neighbors and the United States, which said it is willing to take “all necessary measures” to ensure the safety of the American homeland and allies South Korea and Japan.
The Biden administration also warned of unspecified “additional costs and consequences” if North Korea goes on to detonate a nuclear test device for the first time since September 2017.
The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests in recent months that have raised tensions in the region. They came a day after the North fired more than 20 missiles, the most it has launched in a single day ever.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected that North Korea fired an ICBM from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, at about 7:40 a.m. and then two short-range missiles an hour later from the nearby city of Kaechon that flew toward its eastern waters.
The longer-range missile appeared to be fired at a high angle, possibly to avoid entering the territory of neighbors, reaching a maximum altitude of 1,920 kilometers (1,193 miles) and traveling around 760 kilometers (472 miles), according to South Korea’s military.
Japan’s military announced similar flight details. It also said it lost track of one of the North Korean weapons, apparently the ICBM, after it “disappeared” in skies above waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. South Korea said the short-range missiles traveled about 330 kilometers (91 miles), falling closer to North Korea’s eastern coast.
Choi Yong Soo, a South Korean navy captain who handles public affairs for Seoul’s Defense Ministry, didn’t answer directly when asked about the possibility of the ICBM launch being a failure, saying that it is still being analyzed.
Citing anonymous military sources, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the missile possibly failed to maintain a normal flight following a stage separation.
The Japanese government initially feared North Korea fired a missile over its northern territory but later adjusted its assessment. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the alerts were based on a trajectory analysis that indicated a flyover.
The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida broadcast the “J-Alert” warnings through television, radio, mobile phones and public loudspeakers to residents of the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata, instructing them to go inside strong buildings or underground.
There have been no reports of damage or injuries in the regions where the alerts were issued. Bullet train services in some areas were temporarily suspended following the missile alert before resuming shortly.
North Korean missile activity is a particular concern in Niigata, which is home to seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Those reactors are currently offline and Japanese authorities say no abnormalities have been detected.
On Sado island, just off Niigata’s northern coast, fishermen rushed back from sea at the sound of sirens blaring from community speaker systems. One fisherman told NTV television he no longer feels safe going out to sea.
“We really have to be careful,” he said.
North Korea last flew a missile over Japan in October in what it described as a test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, which experts say potentially would be capable of reaching Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the Pacific.
Kishida condemned North Korea’s latest launches and said officials were analyzing the details of the weapons. The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said his national security director, Kim Sung-han, discussed the launches during an emergency security meeting at which members talked about plans to strength the country’s defense in conjunction with its alliance with the United States.
AFP adds from Seoul: South Korea's air force said Thursday it
would extend ongoing joint air drills with the United States -- the largest-
ever such exercises -- due to North Korea's "recent provocations".
"The joint air forces have agreed to extend the Vigilant Storm drill that
kicked off on October 31 with respect to the North's recent provocations,"
the air force said in a statement hours after Pyongyang's launch of three
missiles.
An earlier report adds: The United States (US) urged all nations to enforce sanctions on North Korea, saying it violated UN Security Council resolutions with a launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
"The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its test of an intercontinental ballistic missile," National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said, confirming South Korea's account of the launch Thursday local time.
She said that President Joe Biden and his national security team were "assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners."
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the launch, which follows a volley of missiles the day before, marked a "clear violation" of United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibit ICBM launches.
The launches show North Korea's threat to "its neighbors, the region, international peace and security and the global non-proliferation regime," Price said.
"This action underscores the need for all countries to fully implement DPRK-related UN Security Council resolutions, which are intended to prohibit the DPRK from acquiring the technologies and materials needed to carry out these destabilizing tests," he said.
He did not single out countries but China is North Korea's primary ally and economic partner.
China and Russia, whose relationship has deteriorated sharply with the West over its invasion of Ukraine, in May vetoed a US-led attempt to impose further sanctions on North Korea over an earlier round of missile launches.
