North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Japan

Launch comes as the country has stopped responding to calls on inter-Korean hotlines.

Kim Jong-un chairs a meeting of the Central Military Commission on Monday. KCNA via AFP

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Thursday, nearly a week after the country’s military stopped responding to calls on an inter-Korean hotline and days after leader Kim Jong-un vowed to strengthen capabilities.

The missile was launched at a lofted trajectory around 7.20am from an area near Pyongyang, travelling for more than 1000km before landing in waters east of the Korean Peninsula, according to South Korea’s military.

Japan sent out an alert warning residents in the country’s northernmost island of Hokkaido to take shelter but later said the missile didn’t land in Japan’s territory or its exclusive economic zone.

Japan’s Defence Ministry said it was possibly an intercontinental ballistic missile, and South Korea’s military said it was of medium or longer-range. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Agence France-Presse it appeared the North had fired a “new type” of ballistic missile that may have used advanced solid fuel.

All of Pyongyang’s known ICBMs are liquid-fuelled, and solid-fuel ICBMs that can be launched from land or submarines have long been on top of Kim’s wish list. Such missiles are easier to store and transport, more stable and quicker to prepare for launch, and thus harder to detect and destroy pre-emptively.

The South condemned the launch, calling it a serious provocation that harmed peace and stability. Washington and Seoul held a meeting after the missile test and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their joint defences.

North Korea’s latest missile launch is part of a pattern of tit-for-tat military responses to the US-South Korea exercises held throughout last month, which Pyongyang has characterised as preparations for an invasion.

Earlier this week, Kim said the country would expand its defence capabilities in a “more practical and offensive” manner to address the “ever-worsening security on the Korean Peninsula” during a military meeting, according to state media. The North has long used a playbook of using weapons tests to keep pressure on the US and South’s military exercises and claimed it must develop nuclear weapons to deal with Washington’s continued threats.

Following a record number of missile launches in 2022, North Korea has conducted a flurry of weapons tests this year, including firing cruise missiles from a submarine and firing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

South Korea said late last week North Korea had stopped responding to calls on inter-Korean hotlines. The joint liaison offices and militaries for the two countries typically conduct check-ins via phone calls twice a day – once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

Earlier this week, South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Young-se expressed regret at North Korea’s “irresponsible attitude” over the hotline and warned the North will “only further isolate itself and end up in a more difficult position” with its actions.

The ministry also warned North Korea to halt its unauthorised use of South Korean facilities at a now-stalled inter-Korean industrial park in North Korea’s city of Kaesong.

In 2016, South Korea closed the Kaesong industrial park – a symbol of co-operation between the two Koreas – to penalise the North for its nuclear test and rocket launch at the time.

The US, South Korea and Japan have been strengthening their collective defences to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat. Washington and Seoul officials have said the country stands ready to conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.

The Wall Street Journal