After Two Months of Quiet, North Korea Launches Another Ballistic Missile (arstechnica.com)

South Korean and U.S. officials have confirmed that North Korea has launched another ballistic missile into the sea of Japan. The ballistic missile test -- launched just after 3am Wednesday local time from Sin-ni in South Pyongyang -- is the first since an intermediate-range missile test in September. Ars Technica reports: In a statement to the press, a spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, "North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile early this morning from Pyongsong, South Pyongan [Province], to the east direction. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff is analyzing more details of the missile with the U.S. side." The U.S. Department of Defense and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) have made an initial assessment that the missile was an ICBM, according to Office of the Secretary of Defense spokesperson Col. Robert Manning. The missile traveled 1,000 kilometers, flew over Japan, and landed in the sea east of Japan within its exclusive economic zone.

Comments

Re:Let Japan settle ...

[MightyYar]

It's not their "jurisdiction". It is their neighborhood. But any conflict they get into is also our conflict, due to our commitment to their security.

This missile is an SS18. It can hit DC or New York

[schwit1]

With that the NORKS don't need to miniaturize the warhead. The SS18 is a massive missile.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/0...

Re:Let Japan settle ...

[AmiMoJo]

North Korea has no diplomatic relations with Japan, nor is it interesting in "settling" any issue at all with Japan.

That's not correct. Japan has been discussing the issue of kidnappings for decades, and NK has made some quite considerable concessions. There is also a small population of NK citizens living in Japan, with a school and some NGOs based in Tokyo.

Japan is one of the major routes in to NK for visitors too. NK likes to host international sporting events like the Pyongyang marathon, with Japanese athletes competing and Japan acting as a gateway for travel.