Seoul/Tokyo (EFE).- North Korea today launched a medium or superior range ballistic missile that fell into the waters of the Sea of Japan after traveling 1,000 kilometers and forced the Japanese authorities to momentarily activate the alert for possible impact around the island of Hokkaido.
The South Korean army “detected a medium-range or higher-range ballistic missile launched into the East Sea (the name given to the Sea of Japan in the two Koreas) from the vicinity of Pyongyang at around 7:23 a.m. (22:23 GMT on Wednesday),” as indicated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in a statement issued in Seoul.
Some 40 minutes after the launch, the J-Alert system was activated in Japan, which allows the authorities to broadcast warnings on citizen security simultaneously through telephones, radio, television and loudspeakers located in each municipality.
On the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, where more than five million people live, the population was urged to take shelter from the possibility that the projectile would hit its surroundings.
stopped trains
The alert was issued to all vessels around Hokkaido and the local railway operator decided to temporarily suspend the operation of all trains on the island.
However, the alert was deactivated minutes later when the risk of impact was ruled out and by 8:19 a.m. (23:19 GMT on Wednesday) the Japanese Coast Guard pointed out that the projectile had already fallen into the sea, although at an undetermined point.
Shortly after, the South Korean JCS indicated that the missile fell into the Sea of Japan after traveling about 1,000 kilometers and being launched at a very wide angle, so it would not have flown over the Japanese island of Hokkaido, as was feared at first.
The spokesman for the Japanese Executive, Hirokazu Matsuno, defended the “proper” operation of the J-Alert system, when asked today at a press conference about the different indications offered to the population through this platform in a short period of time.
“A missile that could be aimed at Hokkaido was detected, and right after that it disappeared from the radar. Since the system generated such hints with limited detection data, the alert was issued from the perspective of prioritizing the safety of the public,” Matsuno explained.
About an hour in the air
Existing data suggests that the North Korean projectile launched today could have flown in around an hour.
North Korea already launched a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the longest potential range in its arsenal, on March 16 into the Sea of Japan and, like a Hwasong-15 (the second longest range) which also fired on February 18, the shell was launched at a wide angle and fell southwest of Hokkaido.
Both projectiles showed very similar flight parameters to the one fired today, remaining in the air for slightly over 60 minutes and covering distances of around 1,000 kilometers from the launch point.
However, an anonymous source cited by the Yonhap agency indicated that North Korea could have tested a “new system” today and indicated that Seoul and Washington are analyzing “various” scenarios, including the possibility that it is a new ballistic missile. solid fuel intercontinental (ICBM).
The latest launch is in addition to other weapons tests -including that of a new nuclear-capable guided drone or torpedo- carried out by Pyongyang in response to the great spring maneuvers in Seoul and Washington, in which Japan has also participated occasionally.
In turn, the regime, which has not answered calls from the South over inter-Korean phone lines for seven days, recently displayed its tactical nuclear warheads for the first time.
This underscores that Pyongyang is intent on upgrading its short-range atomic arsenal for potential use against South Korea or neighboring countries like Japan, which also host US bases.