Missile Over Japan

Missile provocation of North Korea unilaterally escalates. North Korea launched a ballistic missile from Sunan District of Pyongyang to northeast 5:58 a.m. on Tuesday. According to the government of Japan, the missile passed over Oshima Peninsula and Cape Erimo of Hokkaido, Japan, for 2 minutes and touched down on a sea area 1,180 kilometers east of Cape Erimo, ending its 14-minute cruise. It has not been confirmed that the missile dropped any object on Japan. The government disseminated information of missile launch, urging evacuation, to the people right after detecting it.

It was the fifth example for North Korea to launch ballistic missile over Japan. Ministry of Defense analyzed that the missile was possibly a middle range ballistic missile Huasong 12. With no early warning from North Korea, the missile reached the 550 kilometers of altitude, not on a lofted orbit with higher altitude, and 2,700 kilometers of distance. Rader system of Japanese Self-defense Force detected that the missile was separated in three during its flying. The launch is supposed as a protest against joint military exercise by United States and South Korea, called Ulchi Freedom Guardian.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe insisted to the reporters that the missile launch over Japan was unprecedentedly serious threat, eroding regional peace and safety, and he firmly protested North Korea. Abe also stressed that the government completely traced the move of the missile right after the launching. He requested urgent meeting of United Nations Security Council.

Abe made telephone call to U.S. President Donald Trump after the missile intimidation. In the 40-minute talk, they agreed on a notion that it was the time not for dialogue but further pressure. According to the briefing of Japanese government, Abe told Trump that it was a serious threat on a different level form previous ones and North Korea had no intention of dialogue. Trump reportedly told Abe that U.S. was 100% standing by Japan as an ally. But, Trump actually stood with the people in Texas on Tuesday, where Tropical Storm Harvey caused vast flood in Houston.

Smart phones of the people in eastern Japan suddenly rang on 6:02 a.m. on Tuesday, reporting the missile launch, with the warning system called J-alert. All the TV programs turned to black with the message of warning missile and urged the people to hide themselves in a firm building or underground. But, one woman in Sapporo commented to TV reporters that she could not find anywhere to hide herself. A fisherman looked outrageous with consecutive launches of missile from North Korea. But, no one appealed the possibility of war with North Korea, realizing it as a threat mainly directed to U.S.