North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan again

September 15, 2017

TOKYO- North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido on Friday morning, making another military provocation less than a week after the UN Security Council adopted a fresh, stricter sanctions resolution against the reclusive country.

The missile seemed to have flown over Hokkaido and fallen into the Pacific Ocean some 2,200 kilometers east of the prefecture's Cape Erimo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a hastily arranged press conference.

Following the North Korean missile launch, the Japanese government issued warnings to 12 prefectures in eastern to northern Japan via its J-Alert early warning system.

According to the government and South Korea's military, the ballistic missile was blasted off from a site near Sunan in a Pyongyang suburb at around 6:57 a.m. (9:57 p.m. Thursday GMT), passed over Hokkaido between 7:04 a.m. and 7:06 a.m., and dropped in the ocean at around 7:16 a.m. after flying about 3,700 kilometers. It is estimated to have reached a maximum altitude of some 800 kilometers.

Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said that the projectile is believed to be a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Suga said that the missile was not launched on a lofted trajectory. The Self-Defense Forces did not move to shoot it down.

There have been no reports of damage on aircraft or ships from the missile, Suga also said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed government officials to gather and analyze relevant information so they can get fully prepared for a contingency. Tokyo lodged a protest with Pyongyang via a diplomatic channel, according to Suga.

North Korea has so far fired a total of six ballistic missiles over Japan, including Friday's blast-off, which followed one over Hokkaido on Aug. 29 and a nuclear test on Sept. 3.

In New York on Monday, the Security Council unanimously adopted the US-drafted new resolution imposing tougher sanctions including restrictions on UN member states' oil exports to North Korea. Jiji Press