Japan lodges strong protest over N. Koreaʼs missile launch

November 29, 2017

The Japanese government lodged a strong protest to North Korea via embassy channels in Beijing on Wednesday soon after the reclusive state's launch of what is believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Holding phone talks on Wednesday morning, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to ramp up pressure on North Korea to the maximum extent and for close cooperation among their countries and South Korea.

The Japanese government held a meeting of the National Security Council and confirmed a policy of staying on alert as North Korea may make further provocative moves.

"Looking at how the missile flew, we believe it was an ICBM-class," Abe told reporters at his office.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and other sources, the missile, fired from a site near the central North Korea city of Pyongsong, is believed to have reached a height of 4,500 kilomters and fallen into Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan after a flight of about 50 minutes.

"Such a reckless act can never be tolerated," the prime minister said. "We won't yield to provocations and will increase pressure on North Korea to the maximum." He also said Japan will stay on high alert under its strong alliance with the United States.

In their 20-minute phone talks, Abe and Trump reaffirmed their countries will work together and with South Korea in dealing with the issue of North Korea's missile development at the U.N. Security Council and other forums.

Abe told Trump that the latest missile launch threatened the security of both Japan and the United States.

Also over the phone, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson agreed to call on all countries to increase pressure on North Korea.

Abe, who usually lives at his personal residence in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward, has stayed at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, located right next to his office, since Tuesday night.

"We tracked the (missile's) movements perfectly and took all possible crisis management measures," Abe said.

Before the missile launch, he instructed government officials to be prepared for any contingencies. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga later confirmed that there had been no reports of damage to aircraft or ships.

Judging that there was no chance of the latest missile landing on Japanese territory, the government did not order the Self-Defense Forces to shoot it down. Nor did it issue a missile alert for citizens using its J-Alert emergency warning system.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters that the missile fell after dividing into several parts, suggesting that it had a multistage system used for ICBMs.

Senior officials of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, Komeito, agreed Wednesday to work for the adoption of resolutions protesting against North Korea's latest missile launch in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, and the House of Councillors, the upper chamber. Opposition parties also criticized Pyongyang's action. Jiji Press