In a sensational development, North Korea on Friday fired a ballistic missile over Japan evoking angry reaction from the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe.
This is the second such provocative move in weeks by North Korea, which has been a topic of global discussion since it conducted a hydrogen bomb test in the Korean peninsula.
The missile reached an estimated altitude of about 770km (478 miles) and travelled 3,700km before landing in the sea off Hokkaido, South Korea’s military said.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson condemned North Korean act saying that it violated UN sanctions. Putting the burden of response on China and Russia, nuclear-armed North Korea’s main economic partners, he said, “China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labour. China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.”
According to Yonhap news agency, minutes after North Korea’s strike, South Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea in a simulated strike on North Korea.
South Korean president, Moon Jae-in held an emergency meeting of his national security council and warned the test would mean further diplomatic and economic isolation for North Korea, reported BBC News.