US and Japan condemn firing of intercontinental ballistic missile by Pyongyang – Observer

The United States and Japan condemned the launch, this Monday, of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a State Department spokesman said.

“These launches, like the other ballistic missile launches carried out by Pyongyang this year, violate several United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the US State Department spokesperson told France news agency in a statement. -Presse (AFP), when it was still Sunday in that country.

The launches “pose a threat to the DPRK’s neighbors [República Popular Democrática da Coreia, nome oficial da Coreia do Norte] and compromise regional security,” the statement added.

Japan also reacted negatively, admitting that the last two North Korean missile launches constitute “a threat to peace and stability in the region”.

“We firmly condemn” these launches, noted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, stressing that the shots violate equally the sanctions against Pyongyang adopted by the United Nations Security Council.

The South Korean Armed Forces confirmed that the projectile launched this Monday by neighboring North Korea is an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Seoul confirms that Pyongyang fired intercontinental ballistic missile

“Our armed forces have detected what is believed to be a long-range ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea [nome dado ao mar do Japão nas duas Coreias] at around 8:24 am” (11:24 pm on Sunday in Lisbon), declared the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense confirmed the time of the launch and added that the missile landed at around 9:37 am (00:37 am in Lisbon) outside the country’s special economic zone, 250 kilometers west of the island of Okushiri, near Hokkaido (north), according to Japanese state broadcaster NHK.

The duration of the flight coincides with previous launches of this type of missile by Pyongyang and with the curved trajectory used to test this type of missile.

The launch comes after North Korea launched another short-range ballistic missile on Sunday and marks the 27th weapons test recorded by Pyongyang this year alone.

The shooting also comes three days after South Korea’s deputy national security advisor, Kim Tae-hyo, stated that signs had been detected that Kim Jong-un’s regime could launch an ICBM in the next days.

The last ICBM Pyongyang tested was launched in July, when it fired a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel projectile from the outskirts of the North Korean capital.

With this launch, the regime reached a record of five intercontinental missiles launched this year.

This latest North Korean action also comes after Pyongyang announced, on November 23, the cancellation of the application of a military treaty with Seoul, signed in 2018 to reduce tension in border areas.