Japan’s government said the missile was believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan but no damage to ships or aircraft in the area has been reported, according to The Associated Press.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the missile was fired around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday and flew for 40 minutes before landing in the Sea of Japan within waters where Japan claims economic rights.
The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that Tuesday's launch was made from North Korea's North Phyongan province, The Associated Press and South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. The joint chief's statement says the launch was immediately reported to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, AP reported.
President Trump condemned the missile launch on Twitter and called out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the process.
"North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Trump said on Twitter, adding: "Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!
The U.S. Pacific Command confirmed they detected an intermediate range ballistic missile near the Panghyon Airfield for 37 minutes as it landed in the Sea of Japan. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said the missile launch did not pose a threat to North America.
Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have reached heightened levels as North works to build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States.
China’s U.N. ambassador, Liu Jieyi, warned Monday that further escalation of already high tensions with North Korea risks getting out of control, “and the consequences would be disastrous.”
The Korean Peninsula has been divided between the American-backed South and the authoritarian North since the 1950-53 Korean War. Worries have increased as the North’s leader Kim Jong Un pushes to expand his nuclear arsenal and develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.Tuesday’s launch is the first by the North since a June 8 test of a new type of cruise missile that Pyongyang says is capable of striking U.S. and South Korean warships “at will.”
It wasn’t immediately clear if this was a routine firing of a short-range missile or an attempt to perfect North Korea’s longer-range missiles.
Earlier on Monday, Pyongyang released footage of Jong-un watching his troops destroy a mocked-up South Korean rocket during a huge military exercise, the Daily Mail reported. Jong-un could be seen grinning as special forces soldiers used grenades to blow up a replica Hyunmoo-3 cruise missile.
Video released by the state-run Korean Central Television shows troops performing acrobatic rolls and vaulting over fences as they advance on positions during the military display.
Jong-un recently threatened South Korea's former president with a "miserable dog's death" over an alleged plot to assassinate him, the Mail reported.
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