North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday, U.S. officials said, prompting emergency alerts and evacuation warnings on Japan’s northernmost main island.
Residents in Hokkaido were warned to immediately take shelter in their basements, and some public transit systems in the area were temporarily stopped, according to Japanese media.
About 20 minutes after the alerts were issued, however, Japanese officials lifted the warning. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada later said the missile fell outside Japanese territory.
In a statement, the White House strongly condemned the test, which it said involved a long-range missile.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said only that the missile was medium range or longer, and that it was fired at a lofted angle from the Pyongyang area. The missile flew for 1,000 kilometers before landing in the sea between Korea and Japan, it added.
A South Korean defense ministry official later told VOA that the missile likely used solid fuel and appears to be a new type of weapon not launched before by the North.
North Korea has long wanted to develop a solid-fueled ICBM, which can be fired much more quickly than liquid-fueled missiles.
South Korea’s National Security Council called the launch “a grave violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions,” which prohibit any North Korean ballistic missile activity.
Japan’s defense ministry said it lodged a “strong protest” to North Korea over the launch.
North Korea has not offered any details; it does not usually comment on its weapons tests until the following morning when its state-run newspapers are published.
On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a key political meeting in Pyongyang, where he vowed to expand his country’s war deterrence in a “practical and offensive manner.”
North Korea has frequently launched missiles and issued verbal threats in recent months. It insists some of the moves were a response to expanded U.S.-South Korea military drills held last month.
The North has also failed to respond to regular, daily phone calls via inter-Korean hotlines for seven consecutive days, South Korean officials said Thursday, further raising fears that Pyongyang intends to escalate tensions.
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“Pyongyang’s provocations continue past its protest of U.S.-South Korea defense exercises because Kim Jong-un hasn’t finished demonstrating his nuclear delivery capabilities yet,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
“However, with the North Koreans literally not answering the phone, the lack of hotlines and diplomacy increases the risk of unintended escalation,” he added.
The United States and its allies expect North Korea to continue conducting major weapons tests in the coming weeks.
North Korea has vowed to launch a military spy satellite during the month of April and has carried out multiple tests it says are designed to accomplish that goal.
Pyongyang has also recently hinted it could conduct a long-range missile launch at a normal rather than lofted trajectory. In the past, North Korea has used a steep angle in such launches, in part to avoid sending weapons over the territory of its neighbors.
A normal trajectory launch would be much more provocative, since it could fly in the direction of U.S. territory. It could also show North Korea has made progress on important technical benchmarks, such as developing reentry vehicles that can successfully carry warheads through the atmosphere to faraway targets.
North Korea sometimes conducts major weapons tests around key holidays. On Saturday, North Korea will celebrate the “Day of the Sun,” which celebrates the 111th birthday of the country’s late founding leader, Kim Il Sung.
