Japan calls for UNSC meeting after N Korea fires missile over its territory
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a UNSC meeting over North Korea's launching of a projectile over its territory, describing it as an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat."
"Their outrageous act of firing a missile over our country is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat and greatly damages regional peace and security," he told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
He further vowed to increase pressure on Pyongyang, adding that Japan would also "strongly call for increased pressure on North Korea in cooperation with the international community".
The US has also called for a UN Security Council meeting to be held.
Abe stated that the North had launched a missile at around 2057 GMT Monday from Sunan, close to Pyongyang, which had traveled “over Japan."
According to South Korea’s joint chief of staff, the projectile flew for some 2,700 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 550 kilometers.
The missile’s launch, which was confirmed by multiple other countries, is the first to have flown over Japan in years, and comes amid international tensions over Pyongyang’s testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of targeting the US mainland.
The latest launches come just two days after the US military confirmed that North Korea has fired three short-range ballistic missiles towards the sea off its eastern coast.
South Korea condemns launch
South Korea also strongly condemned the ballistic missile launch by Pyongyang and vowed a strong response.
"We will respond strongly based on our steadfast alliance with the United States if North Korea continues nuclear and missile provocations," said a statement released by South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.
US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Pyongyang over its ICBM tests by threatening it with “fire, fury ... the likes of which this world has never seen.”
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Pyongyang in response said that it would launch missiles into the waters near the US Pacific island of Guam, where US military troops are stationed and some 160,000 US citizens live.
The US is opposed to the North Korean missile and military nuclear programs. Pyongyang says it needs them as a deterrent against US hostility.
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