North Korea: Missile fired crashes into Japanese EEZ

The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that the ballistic missile launched earlier today by North Korea fell into the sea inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan.

According to the Japanese authorities, it fell about 170 kilometers west of the Japanese prefecture Aomori (north) at 15:44 (local time. 08:44 Cyprus time).

Outgoing South Korean President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in the Blue House.

The Japanese Coast Guard today sent an emergency message to all ships near the shores, as it considered that there was a danger that the "ballistic missile" would fall into the Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). He later estimated that he has now fallen, without specifying where.

The South Korean national news agency Yonhap reported that the General Staff of National Defense in Seoul believes that an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was tested. Pyongyang has so far complied with a moratorium it imposed on itself over ICBM and nuclear weapons tests after talks began between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former US President Donald Trump.

But that negotiation failed, and the efforts of current US President Joe Biden to start new ones have not borne fruit.

In January, Pyongyang hinted that it would end the moratorium. He then launched a record number of weapons tests, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as well as medium-range missiles, which are theoretically banned under UN Security Council resolutions.

According to the South Korean Armed Forces, a ballistic missile test failed last week. Analysts estimated that it was a test of the Hwasong-17 missile. On Sunday, North Korea tested multi-missile launchers.

RES - EAP