Another Pyongyang missile crashes into Sea of Japan

Strong reactions from South Korea, Japan and the United States. The test aims to undermine the President Moon Jae-in’s push for inter-Korean dialogue. And it is a provocation to the G7's conclusions in Italy demanding Pyongyang’s immediate disarmament.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - This morning North Korea launched a short ballistic missile from its east coast according to South Korean military intelligence. The missile was launched eastward near Wonsan, Gangwon province, at 5.39 am. "The flight distance is about 450 kilometers," said Army spokesperson Colonel Roh Jae-cheon. Japan confirmed that the missile fell in its territorial waters and Did not rule out that North Korea fired more missiles in its latest provocation.

President Moon Jae-in has convened the National Security Council who sent out a warning: "Continued provocative acts of North Korea only accelerate its isolation and provoke the strong reactions of our military and International community ".

The Seoul Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that "the government does not tolerate any kind of provocation and will have a tough reaction". "The North should immediately stop all provocations and choose the path of denuclearization as quickly as possible," he says.

The North American aerospace defense (Norad) based in Hawaii believes that these launches are not a threat to North America. " The US Pacific Command has secured its commitment to security with allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan.

A White House official said US President Donald Trump was also informed of the North's provocation. "This launch of ballistic missiles by North Korea is extremely problematic for air transport security and is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," said Japanese government secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The missile in question is Scud type, with liquid fuel and a range from 300 to 500 kilometers. But a variation, called Scud-ER (extended range), is being developed, capable of traveling up to a thousand kilometers. That would mean that Japan is in its reach.

The Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe has promised to act with other nations to discourage repeated Pyongyang provocations. "As we agreed in the recent G7, the question of North Korea is a top priority for the international community," he explained.

Last week, the South Korean Unification Ministry announced that it wanted to contact the North to supply mosquito nets and insect repellents. A move considered a reflection of Moon's will to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang despite the increased military tensions.

"The government will respond strongly to all North Korean provocations, but at the same time we are looking for ways to allow humanitarian and civilian exchanges without compromising the validity of international sanctions," a ministry official said last week.

After the G7 in Italy this weekend, group leaders found that North Korea "always poses new levels of serious threat to peace and international stability." They have called on the North to "immediately and fully comply with all UN Security Council resolutions, and to abandon all nuclear, ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner."

But North Korea has repeatedly challenged United Nations resolutions banning nuclear and missile activity and has intensified its tests in recent months. Pyongyang says it sweapons program is needed to counteract US aggression. North Korea has a large stock of short-range missiles originally developed by the Soviet Union. US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said that the military conflict with North Korea, if diplomacy failed, would be the worst ever seen: "The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery guns and grenades pointed in one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea."

• North korea
• south korea
• korea
• asia
• nuclear
• kim jong-un
• moon jae-in