North Korea Fires ICBM Missile; Flies 45 Minutes, Lands In Japan Waters

Perhaps sensing that Trump is rather vulnerable right now, and confirming reports from two days ago that an ICBM launch is imminent, moments ago Japan’s NHK reported that North Korea has fired “what appears to be a missile”, which Kyodo has since classified as an ICBM, which landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The Pentagon, as reported by Fox news, confirms that Japan has indeed launched a ballistic missile, and is assessing the results.

Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on comments carried on TV that North Korea has again launched a missile, which may have landed in the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, confirming an earlier report by NHK which said the missile may have landed in the waters near Japan, citing Japan Coast Guard. NHK adds that Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga to give briefly shortly.

Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says that the missile flew for about 45 minutes before landing in Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The landing zone is shown in the map below:

This is the place where North Korea launched its latest missile (left) and the Japanese island closest to its landing spot (right) pic.twitter.com/IPl4eRG5Yf

— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) July 28, 2017

According to the Pentagon, the missile reached altitude of 3700km (2300 mile), prompting defense reporters to speculated that a “good portion of US is within striking range. Reliable ICBM by early next year.”

According to VoA, statement from the Dept of Defense is expected soon on the latest DPRK missile launch.

As Citi writes, the current confused US and China policy on North Korea is doing little to stem these tests. On Wednesday we reported that NKorea was preparing for another launch. Meanwhile the Washington Post reported earlier this week that NK will likely be able to produce a nuclear-capable warhead by 2018 – a full two years ahead of schedule.