SEOUL: North Korea fired an unidentified missile eastwards over Japan on Friday, Seoul and Tokyo said.
The launch, from near Pyongyang, comes after the United Nations Security Council imposed an eighth set of sanctions on the country over its banned missile and nuclear programmes.
Japan condemned Friday’s North Korean missile launch “with strongest words”, the top government spokesman said, saying the country could “never tolerate this repeated extreme provocative action.”
“We have strongly protested to the North, telling them of the strong anger of the Japanese people,” Yoshihide Suga told reporters.
On the other hand the Pentagon said, the launch did not pose a threat to the United States.
“Initial assessment indicates the launch of an intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM),” the US Pacific Command said in a statement.
“The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) determined this ballistic missile did not pose a threat to North America,” it said. “US Pacific Command determined this ballistic missile did not pose a threat to Guam.”
