North Korea fires missile with 'longest flight time'

ANKARA

North Korea on Wednesday fired a long-range ballistic missile, with longest flight tıme so far, into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to the South Korean military.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch from an area in or around Pyongyang at about 10 a.m. (0100GMT), Seoul-based Yonhap News reported. The missile came down in what South Korea calls the East Sea and Tokyo calls the Sea of Japan.

The missile, which was fired at a “lofted trajectory,” reached a maximum altitude of about 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and flew for about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) before splashing down west of Hokkaido’s Okushiri Island outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.

Its flight time of 74 minutes was the longest yet for a North Korean missile, the ministry added.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reacted strongly to the news, warning that Pyongyang will be made to pay a price for carrying out an illicit ballistic missile launch.

Yoon, chairing an emergency meeting of the country’s National Security Council during a trip to Lithuania, where he is for a NATO summit, directed a strengthening of the US’ "extended deterrence" commitment through the Nuclear Consultative Group that Yoon and US President Joe Biden agreed to create to discuss nuclear and strategic planning, said Yonhap, citing a statement from Yoon’s office.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, called the latest missile launch a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, saying it was "totally unacceptable."

Speaking to reporters, Matsuno said Japanese senior officials held a National Security meeting and also filed a protest over the missile launch with North Korea through its embassy in Beijing.

Last month, North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast in response to military drills staged by the US and South Korea.

The latest launch came just a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong warned that Pyongyang would take "clear and resolute" action against US surveillance flights within the North's "economic water zone."

So far this year, Pyongyang launched 12 missiles including the intercontinental ballistic-class Hwasong-15, Hwasong-17, and Hwasong-18 missiles, according to NHK.

North Korea in May also launched its first military spy satellite, which crashed into the West Sea of Korea.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid