In Tokyo from 2015

Tokyo, 29 Agosto 2017 - North Korea’s firing of what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan Tuesday morning — which landed in the sea 1,180 km east of Cape Erimo in Hokkaido after reaching an altitude of 550 km as it flew over the nation’s northernmost prefecture — serves as a stark reminder that our country is well within the range of North Korean missiles. Though it’s not the first time that a North Korean ballistic missile flew over Japan — in fact the Tuesday’s was the fifth since a Taepodong-1 flew over Tohoku and landed in the Pacific in 1998 — such a provocative act is unacceptable and must be denounced. However, sheer denunciation and condemnation will likely not stop Kim Jong Un’s regime, as we all know from the failure of international efforts so far to discourage Pyongyang end its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

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North’s ‘shot across Japan’s bow’ gives Abe boost on defense, puts hopes for talks on ice - North Korea’s provocative launch of an apparent midrange missile over Hokkaido on Tuesday is likely to give fuel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to bolster the nation’s abilities to defend itself, while also throwing cold water on a return to dialogue, experts say.

The missile, which stoked concern in Tokyo after landing in the Pacific Ocean about 1,200 kilometers east of the northernmost prefecture, comes amid North Korea’s ramped-up pace of missile and weapons tests, including two nuclear detonations last year.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un had also threatened Washington and Tokyo earlier this month with a plan to fire missiles into waters surrounding the U.S. territory of Guam. According to that plan, which Kim later backed off, the missiles would have flown over Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures.

After the North’s two successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July — including one that experts say potentially puts Chicago and Los Angeles within range — U.S. President Donald Trump vowed the following month to rain down “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it endangered the United States.

But the North’s latest launch, which analysts said was likely toned down after the Guam threat, may have been aimed at exposing the security dilemma the U.S. faces over its alliances with Japan and South Korea, with the technical information gleaned from the firing an added benefit.

“This missile event represents the Trump administration’s first real security test for the U.S.-Japan alliance,” said Michael Bosack, a former deputy chief of government relations for U.S. Forces Japan. “How the U.S. government responds now will send an important message to the Japanese government of what it might expect from the Trump White House when Japan perceives its security to be directly threatened.”

Bosack said Tokyo and Washington would almost assuredly be coordinating responses using the Alliance Coordination Mechanism, which was created to optimize joint planning and established following the publication of new defense guidelines in 2015, “so we should expect synchronized strategic messaging in the near-term.”

He said it was also possible that the government would allocate additional funds for the Self-Defense Forces for bilateral operations in response to Tuesday’s test-firing.

But the allies’ long-term response to the crisis has been the most vexing for them as the North makes strides in its ability to credibly threaten both Japan and the continental U.S.

Abe and others have advocated for a more robust approach to the issue, including bolstered missile defense and potentially even acquiring the capabilities to directly strike North Korean missile bases — an option Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera earlier this month said he would consider.

“Prime Minister Abe will likely see this as further justification for his efforts to enhance Japan’s ability to defend itself,” said Abraham Denmark, who served as U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia until January. “I expect accelerated discussions about missile defense, strike, and closer coordination with South Korea and the United States.”

As Abe grapples with the effects of a spate of scandals that have dented his support rate, he will also look to cash in on his personal ties with the current U.S. president, experts say. Abe has worked hard to cultivate one of the stronger relationships among foreign leaders with the mercurial Trump.

“Abe is trying to restore public faith in his leadership,” said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “He will need to be steady in the face of the growing North Korean missile threat. Moreover, his personal investment in the relationship with President Trump will need to pay off.”

Smith said there are growing concerns over whether Abe can manage the increasingly unpredictable Trump, “and these escalating tensions between North Korea and the U.S. seem to be upping the risk for Japan.”

“This morning’s missile shot across Japan’s bow requires a strong alliance response if Abe is to demonstrate to the Japanese public that Washington is really ‘behind Japan 100 percent,’ ” Smith said.

Tuesday’s launch also came after the White House had earlier appeared to shift its focus from “fire and fury” to a return to dialogue, with the top U.S. diplomat last week lauding the North’s “restraint” for a temporary halt in provocations.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had on Sunday held out hope that the U.S., its allies and China could “bring the regime in Pyongyang to the negotiating table” — despite its firing a day earlier of three short-range missiles.

After the nearly monthlong lull in missile tests, Tillerson had said last week that he was “pleased” to see that the Kim regime had demonstrated a “level of restraint that we’ve not seen in the past.”

Ahead of Saturday’s launches, Trump himself had appeared sanguine about the prospect of improving relations with Pyongyang, telling a campaign rally last week that Kim “is starting to respect us.”

“And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about,” he said at the time.

But the fresh provocation Tuesday was likely to have closed the door to any talks in the near future — at least for now.

“I don’t see it as a slap in the face, but it does undermine claims by Trump and Tillerson that they got Kim to back down,” said Denmark, the former U.S. official. “North Korea remains committed to its nuclear and missile ambitions.”

Ultimately, experts agreed that the latest missile test was unlikely to be the last.

“Kim Jong Un continues to suggest he is uninterested in coming to the table,” said Smith. “My own conclusion is he won’t stop until he gets the ICBM; and he will try to weaken the alliances as he goes.”

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Residents unsure how to react as North Korean missile flies over Japan: North Korea’s firing of a missile over northern Japan on Tuesday heightened concerns among citizens, triggering alerts in communities and prompting some to run for cover.

“The alert told me to evacuate, but I couldn’t think of any building in the town that could withstand missiles. I didn’t know where to go,” said Ichiro Kondo, a 38-year-old fisherman in the town of Erimo in Hokkaido, said to be in the direct path of the missile.

A 59-year-old elementary school teacher in nearby Aomori Prefecture said he heard an “eerie” howl over the community’s disaster radio network and switched on the television to find that the government had issued a warning.

He also felt he had nowhere to run, and in those tense moments he just shut the curtains and tried to stay away from the window as much as possible.

In Hokkaido, police received more than 90 emergency calls, some with questions about where to evacuate. Four people sought shelter at a disaster-mitigation center in the city of Muroran, including a couple with their child.

At least 40 schools, mainly in Hokkaido and other parts of northeastern Japan, either called off classes or delayed the start of classes following the warning. A school operator in Ibaraki Prefecture also decided to cancel classes at three schools.

About four minutes after North Korea was believed to have fired a ballistic missile shortly before 6 a.m., the J-Alert warning system advised people in 12 prefectures to take precautions.

About 12 minutes after the first alert, the system then warned that the missile had just flown above land. The government later announced that the projectile fell into the Pacific Ocean about 1,180 km east of Cape Erimo in Hokkaido.

“This morning I was woken by an alert on my phone,” said Joshua Hamilton, a 36-year-old Australian resident in Sapporo. “I read the message which is entirely in Japanese, and recognized the words North Korea and missile.”

A few minutes later he started getting messages from friends and his mother in Australia, asking him if he was OK, he said.

Other residents were surprised at the apparent lack of alarm among colleagues.

“I think the biggest shock was how nobody at my workplace seemed fazed about the missile,” said Mia Abe, 23, an American resident in Biei, Hokkaido. “Everyone just laughed it off as if it was a joke.”

North Korea did not issue an advance notice that it would send a projectile over Japan as required by international rules, the Japanese government said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government is taking “every possible measure to protect the lives of the people.”

But glitches were reported in the disaster radio network in some municipalities, including the town of Erimo.

Bullet train services and some conventional railway services in the 12 prefectures were temporarily halted. Some train services in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture were also disrupted, even though they had not been subject to the warning.

The latest missile launch came after Japan mobilized some of its ground-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile interceptors to Hiroshima and three other prefectures in western Japan to deal with North Korea’s recent threat to launch missiles near the U.S. territory of Guam.

The missile did not affect the western prefectures, but a 13-year-old junior high school student in Hiroshima said, “We don’t know when it will come. It’s really scary.”

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North Korea fires missile over Japan in sharp escalation of tensions: In an “unprecedented, grave and serious” threat, nuclear-armed North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile over Hokkaido on Tuesday morning, the first unannounced launch of a missile to fly over Japan.

The Japanese government said the missile flew over southern Hokkaido for two minutes, later breaking into three segments before plunging into the Pacific Ocean about 1,180 km east of Cape Erimo.

The North launched the apparent intermediate-range missile that traveled for about 14 minutes, at 5:58 a.m., the government said, adding that no damage had been reported to ships or aircraft.

Link of the article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/08/29/national/north-korea-fires-missile-japan-reportedly-breaks-falls-pacific/#.WafRjK1aZfQ