SEOUL, May 29, (APP/AFP) – North Korea test-fired
a missile Monday into Japan’s maritime economic zone — the latest in a series of provocative launches that have heightened tensions over its nuclear weapons ambitions.
It was the North’s third ballistic missile test in as many weeks and the 12th this year — carried out in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.
US military monitors said the short-range missile flew for six minutes, while Japan said it fell into its exclusive economic zone, extending 200 nautical miles from the coast.
The launch went ahead despite tough talk from US President Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7 summit that the “big problem” of North Korea “will be solved”.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action with its US ally.
“We will never tolerate North Korea’s continued provocations that ignore repeated warnings by the international community,” Abe told reporters.
“As agreed during the G7 summit, the North Korean problem is the
international community’s top priority. In order to deter North Korea, we will take concrete action with the United States.”