North Korea defended its missile activities and criticized the U.S. for “redeploying the carrier task force in the waters off the Korean peninsula.”
Japanese and South Korean officials have said that North Korea has fired a missile in the direction of Japan in what would be the second such launch this week as North Korea railed against the United States and its allies.
“A possible ballistic missile was launched from North Korea,” the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said Wednesday, Thursday local time, on Twitter.
An earlier tweet that has since been deleted suggested the missile had “likely” flown over Japan, as Monday’s launch did, though this appears to have been corrected.
The premier’s office also released a three-point set of instructions in the wake of the launch’s detection that read: “1. Dedicate maximum effort to gather and analyze information, and provide the public speedy and adequate information,” “2. Ensure the safety of aircraft, vessels, and other assets” and “3. Take all possible measures for precaution, including readiness for contingencies.”
The launch was detected shortly after the Foreign Ministry of North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), issued a statement criticizing recent maneuvers carried out by the U.S. military and its allies, as well as their attempts to bring their criticism of Pyongyang’s missile activities to the United Nations Security Council, which has barred North Korea from pursuing such activities.
“The DPRK Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the U.S. and its some satellites for unwarrantedly referring to the UNSC the just counteraction measures of the Korean People’s Army against South Korea-U.S. joint drills escalating the military tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the statement said.
“The DPRK is watching the U.S. posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity by redeploying the carrier task force in the waters off the Korean peninsula,” it added.
Monday’s test, which was believed to have involved an intermediate-range ballistic missile, prompted a nationwide alert in Japan as well as instructions for those in the northern Aomori prefecture to seek shelter in a building or underground.
The ministry also noted how the U.S. and South Korea responded with a rare joint missile exercise, which resulted in “an incident” in which “a missile fell down after launching during the missile firing drill,” identifying the missile as a Hyunmoo-2 surface-to-air missile.
