Deputy Minister of Defense of Japan Toshiro Ino protested to the leadership of the DPRK after the missile tests, which pose a threat to the country’s security. On Sunday, March 19, he spoke at a briefing.
“North Korea’s missile tests pose a security threat not only to Japan, but to the entire international community, they are absolutely unacceptable. We protested to North Korea through diplomatic channels through the embassy in Beijing,” the deputy minister said.
This is the ninth missile test by North Korea since the beginning of this year.
North Korea’s missile launch towards the Sea of Japan became known earlier in the day. Presumably it was ballistic. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the rocket was launched from the area of the Dongchangni missile range around 11:05 local time (05:05 Moscow time). It is noted that the rocket flew about 800 km.
On March 16, North Korea also launched a ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.
On March 14, Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea had launched one ballistic missile. Later information appeared that there were two missiles. They were launched from the Changyong district of Hwanghae-namdo province towards the Sea of Japan.
Later, on March 17, it became known that the DPRK organized tests of the Hwaseong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile in response to the joint exercises of the United States and South Korea.
The Ministry of Defense of Japan reported that the DPRK missile fell 550 km east of the Korean Peninsula, outside the country’s exclusive economic zone. Under the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an emergency headquarters was set up to collect information about the launch. Japan also made a strong protest to the DPRK after the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
