Seoul: North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, forcing Japan to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains during the flight of the nuclear-capable weapon that could reach the US territory of Guam and beyond.
The launch was the most provocative weapons demonstration by North Korea this year as it ramps up missile tests in its push to build a full-fledged nuclear arsenal that viably threatens US allies and the American homeland and earns the country recognition as a nuclear state.
The United States said it strongly condemns North Korea's dangerous and reckless decision to launch what it described as a long-range ballistic missile over Japan.
This action is destabilising and shows (North Korea's) blatant disregard for United Nations Security Council resolutions and international safety norms, it said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol earlier said the missile had an intermediate range, while Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said it was believed to have an intermediate range or longer. If Tuesday's launch involves a long-range missile, that could be a test of a weapon targeting the US homeland, some experts say.
Japanese authorities alerted residents in northeastern regions to evacuate to shelters, in the first J-alert since 2017 when North Korea fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile twice over Japan in a span of weeks during its previous torrid run of weapons tests.
Trains were suspended in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions until the government issued a subsequent notice that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific. In Sapporo city, the prefectural capital of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, subways were also temporarily suspended, with stations packed with morning commuters.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the latest firing "is a reckless act and I strongly
condemn it.