South Korea: President Moon Jae-in Condemns North Korea launches intercontinental ballistic missile

South Korean President Moon Jae-in strongly condemned the North Korean launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile earlier today and the fact that the North Korean leader violated the moratorium that had been declared by the , according to its services.

Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Makoto Oniki noted that the rocket launched today from Pyongyang looks like a new ICBM model, as it reached an altitude of 6,000 kilometers.

The rocket landed inside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, according to the Japanese Deputy Defense Minister.

“Our analysis indicates that the ballistic missile flew for 71 minutes and crashed around 15:44 (local time; 08:44 Greek time) inside the (Japanese) Exclusive Economic Zone, in the Sea of ​​Japan, about 150 km from the peninsula. Osima “, on the island of Hokkaido.

“Given that the ballistic missile this time flew at an altitude of more than 6,000 kilometers, which is much higher than the (intercontinental ballistic missile) Hwasong-15, which was launched in November 2017, we believe that today is a new model,” he added.

The Undersecretary of State clarified that the Japanese Ministry of Defense has not received any information that speaks of damage to ships or aircraft, however, describing the launch as a “serious threat” to the security of Japan.

“At a time when the world is facing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea is continuing its offensive, unilaterally exacerbating its challenges to the international community, which is absolutely unforgivable,” Oniki said.

For its part, the South Korean National Defense General Staff said the missile covered a distance of 1,080 kilometers and reached an altitude of 6,200 kilometers, according to the South Korean national news agency Yonhap.

Pyongyang has maintained a moratorium on ICBM and nuclear weapons tests since talks began between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former US President Donald Trump in 2018.

But that negotiation failed, and current US President Joe Biden’s efforts to start new ones have not borne fruit.

In January, Pyongyang had hinted that it was preparing to end the moratorium. It then launched a record number of weapons tests, launching what it called ultrasonic missiles, as well as medium-range missiles – both of which are theoretically prohibited from being developed and tested by North Korea under Security Council resolutions. of the UN.

According to the South Korean Armed Forces, a ballistic missile test failed last week. Analysts estimated that it was a test of the new Hwasong-17. On Sunday, North Korea tested multi-missile launchers.

Source: AMPE