North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the second time in less than a month on Friday morning, CNN reports. This launch comes after last month’s news of North Korea considering a missile strike launch near Guam. The country’s missile originated from the district Sunan in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. South Korea reported that after flying approximately 2300 miles, the missile landed in the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea held its last missile test on Aug. 29, but this week’s launch seems to have caused a bigger stir for South Korea and Japan. Panic likely came from North Korea’s scary threats hours before the launch, BuzzFeed News says. A North Korean state agency told Japan that it “should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb,” while the United States should be reduced to “ashes and darkness.” So, yeah, a bit intense.
Although no damage was reported in Japan after the missile launched, a government warning asked residents to avoid “anything that could be missile debris” and stay inside for the time being. The Japanese government also called for a National Security Council Meeting, while South Korean President Moon Jae-in also held a similar meeting.
Tension surrounding missiles is especially high for the Korean neighbors now, as North Korea conducted a nuclear test on Sept. 3 that caused a magnitude-6.3 tremor. Moon responded to the test with a pacifist’s approach.
“We need to develop our military capabilities in the face of North Korea’s nuclear advancement,” he said in a televised interview with CNN. “I do not agree that South Korea needs to develop our own nuclear weapons or relocate tactical nuclear weapons in the face of North Korea’s nuclear threat. To respond to North Korea by having our own nuclear weapons will not maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula and could lead to a nuclear arms race in northeast Asia.”
President Donald Trump isn’t exactly a fan of this peaceful approach, calling out South Korea for “appeasement” of North Korea after the powerful nuclear test. According to Yahoo News, he plans to visit South Korea, along with Japan and China, later this year. We can definitely expect more discussion on how to deal with North Korea’s growing nuclear threats when the president is in South Korea.