Tokyo/Washington/New York/Pyongyang: As a possible intermediate-range ballistic missile launched by North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – DPRK) overflew Japanese territory today at around 7:30 am (local time), and unconfirmed reports suggested explosions and a fire at the South Korean air force’s 18th fighter wing base, the United States of America talked to both countries to hold Pyongyang accountable for its “unacceptable behaviour”. With regard to the reports of explosions in the South Korean airforce base, Washington said last night (IST) it would check and see if the USA had anything to “assess on that”.
The US stated that it was prepared to meet with the DPRK without preconditions. “We consider that to be an important step towards meeting our ultimate goal, which is the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. And we continue to feel that diplomacy and dialogue are a key aspect of achieving that goal,” Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson at the US State Department told journalists in Washington today.
The missile which flew over Japan’s Aomori Prefecture and landed in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,000 miles east of Japan after travelling 2,850 miles – the longest distance by a North Korean missile was launched from Mupyong-ri in North Korea. It reached an altitude of 602 miles. Five years ago when a similar missile strike happened in 2017, at that time the then-President of the United States, Donald Trump had sent the B-1B supersonic bombers and other warplanes close to North Korea. The latter had then responded with a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile claimed to be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States.
Japan today urged North Korea to fully and immediately implement the related UN Security Council Resolutions such as suspension of all activities related to ballistic missile programs. In addition, Japan strongly urges North Korea to take concrete steps towards the comprehensive resolution of the outstanding issues of concern including abduction, nuclear, and missile issues.
Following today’s missile launch by the DPRK, U.S. Marine Corps fighters joined the Japanese air self-defence fighters in a bilateral exercise over the Sea of Japan to enhance operational readiness and responses to regional threats while defending our nations and to further strengthening regional peace and stability. Besides, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and South Korean personnel conducted a bilateral exercise as well over the West Sea to showcase combined deterrent and dynamic strike capabilities while demonstrating their bilateral interoperability. Patel confirmed of a bilateral military exercise with Japan and South Korea following DPRK’s missile launch.
“We will continue to coordinate the immediate and longer-term response bilaterally, trilaterally with the Republic of Korea and with the international community,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in Washington. He informed that US President Joe Biden had spoken with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to reinforce America’s “ironclad commitment” to Japan’s defence.
The Japanese foreign office elaborated that the two leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s missile launch that flew over Japan for the first time in approximately five years as a serious and imminent threat to the national security of Japan and a clear and serious challenge to the international community. The two leaders concurred to continue close coordination between Japan and the U.S. as well as among Japan, the U.S., and South Korea toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions 1695, 1718, and 1874. In addition, Prime Minister Kishida asked for continued understanding and cooperation for the resolution of the abductions issue, and gained full support from President Biden.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin too held a telephone conference where Hamada stated that he would fundamentally reinforce Japan’s defence capabilities by realistically examining all options including the so-called “counterstrike capabilities” to protect the lives and livelihood of the people of Japan. While Hamada said the ballistic missile launch over Japan was a grave and imminent threat to Japan’s security and such an outrageous act was absolutely unacceptable, Austin reaffirmed that the U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence including nuclear capabilities to Japan remained unwavering.
Japan has maintained its peace and security, centred on the security arrangements with the United States that provide that Japan and the United States will take bilateral action in the event of an armed attack against Japan, based on Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, and Japan will provide facilities and areas for the U.S. Forces, based on Article 6 of the treaty.
Washington stated it was still assessing the specific nature of this recent launch, which, again, posed an unacceptable threat to the Japanese public. This was the 39th ballistic missile that the DPRK launched in 2022, and the fifth missile test in just over the week. The US termed this continued action as unlawful and destabilizing to the region and the whole international community and called on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and to engage in sustained and substantive dialogue.
The US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken held separate calls with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa immediately following North Korea’s “reckless and dangerous launch of a ballistic missile overflying Japanese territory, posing an unacceptable threat to the Japanese public”. Blinken, Park, and Hayashi strongly condemned DPRK for the launch and “blatant disregard of multiple UN Security Council resolutions”. They said the launch had “deeply destabilizing implications for the region”.
Meanwhile, in New York, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned the DPRK for the “reckless act and a violation of Security Council resolutions” and for disregarding any consideration for international flight or maritime safety. The Secretary-General urged North Korea to resume dialogue with the key parties concerned with a view to achieving sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Significantly, the North Korean foreign office issued a press release today where it referred to Russia vetoing an anti-Russia resolution at the UN Security Council on September 30, 2022, to underscore the point that the US had been using the UNSC as its shield and means of aggression for maintaining its supremacy. “Highhanded and arbitrary practices and partial and double-standard acts can never be pardoned in any case. If the UNSC is going to violate the independent rights and fundamental interests of a sovereign state with the illogical and gangster-like double standards running counter to the aim and principle of the UN Charter, it will be held totally responsible for the consequences to be entailed by it,” Jo Chol Su, Director General of the Department of International Organizations of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, stated in Pyongyang.
