North Korea appears to have fired a long-range missile over northern Japan, an extraordinary act of aggression by the rogue regime, and one that came less than 24 hours after U.S. and Japanese forces concluded joint exercises in Hokkaido, the nation’s northernmost island.
Northeast Japan woke up Tuesday morning (local time) to learn that North Korea had fired a missile in its direction. The Japanese government warned residents of the Tohoku region that a North Korean missile was headed for their area, according to local broadcaster NHK.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later told reporters that the missile appeared to have overshot the nation, according to CNBC.
A senior U.S. intelligence has told NBC News that this is, ostensibly, the first North Korean missile test to ever pass over Japan on “a high-altitude trajectory.” The South Korean military estimates that the missile traveled 1678 miles, and reached a height of 341 miles, according to the Associated Press.
On Saturday, North Korea launched three short-range ballistic missiles, in its first weapons test since the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to impose a new round of sanctions on the country.
Earlier this month, President Trump vowed that North Korean aggression would be met by “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Kim Jong-un’s regime responded to that aggression by threatening an attack on the U.S. territory of Guam.
