Latest North Korea missile launch lands near Japan waters

North Korean state media said Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader, personally “provided field guidance” for that drill.

“South Korea is putting the cart before the horse in their pursuit of national security, as the key to security lies in good neighborly and friendly relations with its neighbors, rather than a bunch of U.S.-made missiles”, the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua said in a commentary.

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into Japanese waters.

“North Korea, by firing of ballistic missile which can equip nuclear warhead, is openly showing its direct and obvious intention of provocation and ambition that it can target our country, including our ports and airports, as well as neighbor countries”, the official said.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined that the missiles posed no threat to the US.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strongly condemned the attack, describing it as a “grave threat” and “an outrageous act that can not be tolerated”.

The test is the fourth such missile launch in recent weeks, although North Korea faces strong worldwide restrictions linked to the activity.

“What our focus has been is working with other like-minded partners in the region, certainly that includes China, in trying to ensure that these sanctions are implemented to the full extent possible so that the DPRK, the North Korean regime, feels the squeeze”, State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.

The United Nations, South Korea and the USA have placed economic and trade sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear and missile programs. Seoul and Tokyo offs say the north fired a ballistic missile into the sea that landed near Japan’s territorial waters making it one of the longest launches for the north Korean test. Bob woodruff is there. The other flying about 600 miles into the sea off of Japan. After several failures, the North put its first satellite into space aboard a long-range rocket in December 2012, and conducted another successful satellite launch in February.

The launch was the North’s first ballistic missile test since it tested a Scud-type short-range missile and two mid-range Rodong ballistic missiles on July 19. The North Korean diplomat who used to head that channel said the USA sanctions amounted to a “declaration of war”. Wednesday’s events are sure to ring alarm bells in both China and Japan, as the successful missile test exhibited that both Beijing and Tokyo lie within the range of Pyongyang.

Although the council has repeatedly condemned North Korea’s missile launches, a US-drafted statement circulated last month hit a wall during negotiations with China, Pyongyang’s closest ally. South Korean defense officials say North Korea does not have the technical ability to do this yet. Japan also said its self-defence force would remain on alert in case of further launches. A Rodong fired in March flew about 800 kilometers (500 miles) while two other Rodongs launched in 2014 flew about 650 kilometers (400 miles).

And tensions on the divided Korean peninsula are also building up ahead of a large-scale South Korea-US military exercise that begins on August 22 and involves tens of thousands of troops.