Biden condemns North Korea’s ballistic missile launch and reaffirms ‘iron-clad commitment’ to Japan in conversation with PM Kishida after rocket forces residents to shelter before landing in Pacific Ocean
President Joe Biden condemned North Korea and reaffirmed America’s ‘iron-clad commitment’ to defending Japan in a call with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio
Earlier on Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years
The White House called the move “dangerous and reckless”
Residents of northern Japan were forced to hide in their homes for 20 minutes before the missile crashed into the Pacific Ocean
Both Foreign Minister Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have been in contact with their Japanese and South Korean counterparts
The last time North Korea flew a missile over Japan was on September 15, 2017, in the early months of the Trump administration
In response, the United States conducted military exercises with both the South Koreans and the Japanese
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President Joe Biden condemned North Korea and reaffirmed America’s “ironclad commitment” to defend Japan in a call Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years.
Earlier, the White House called the move ”dangerous and reckless” as Japanese residents were forced to hide in their homes.
“This action is destabilizing and demonstrates the DPRK’s flagrant disregard for UN Security Council resolutions and international security norms,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement Monday night.
A pedestrian walks under a huge screen showing news of North Korea’s missile launch on Tuesday in Tokyo
North Korea has test-fired a ballistic missile that flew over Japan’s Tohoku region and 1,800 miles into the Pacific Ocean before splashing down
President Joe Biden (left) called Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) on Tuesday after the North Korean missile test
A missile that analysts believe may be the North Korean Hwasong-12. On Tuesday, North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years
Both Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan have been in contact with their Japanese and South Korean counterparts in the wake of the test – the fifth in 10 days.
The last time North Korea flew a missile over Japan was on September 15, 2017, in the early months of the Trump administration, when Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were still trading insults — and nine months before their first face-to-face meeting.
Overall, Trump met with Kim three times during his four years in office, but the US was never able to reach a deal on denuclearization.
Under President Joe Biden, North Korea has increased missile launches again.
South Korea said the intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japan on Tuesday flew about 2,800 miles, possibly marking a new record for the North Korean tests.
“We’re still in the process of analyzing it so we can better understand what capabilities they put into the air yesterday,” White House spokesman John Kirby said on Fox News Channel Tuesday morning.
Normally, North Korea caps the missiles to prevent them from flying over neighboring countries.
On Tuesday, the five million inhabitants of Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island, were warned to seek shelter.
The warnings lasted for 20 minutes – and then the missile crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
Since then, the United States and Japan and the United States and South Korea have conducted military exercises.
Fighter jets from the United States and Japan conducted exercises over the Sea of Japan, the US military said.
American and South Korean warplanes conducted bombing exercises.
“With the participation of four South Korean Air Force F-15Ks and four US Air Force F-16 fighter jets, South Korea’s F-15K fired two joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) bombs at a virtual target at the Jikdo firing range in the West Sea,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said referring to the Yellow Sea.
The exercises aimed to demonstrate the allies’ “capabilities to carry out a precision attack at the origin of provocations”, they added.
Vice President Kamala Harris recently returned from the region, and the recent flurry of missile tests is believed to be a response.
The US has long warned that a North Korean nuclear test could be next.
The last time the North Koreans tested a nuclear weapon was also in September 2017.