North Korea fires second ballistic missile over Japan in a matter of weeks

“If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future.”

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Thursday night, the second time such a step has been taken in a matter of weeks. The South Korean military reported that the latest launch took place from the Sunan airfield, north of Pyongyang, shortly before 7am local time (10pm GMT) on Thursday. The missile is believed to have travelled a distance of 3,700km over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido before landing in the Pacific Ocean. Although the missile was in the air for a shorter time than the one launched on August 29, it travelled over 1,000km further and had a higher maximum altitude (770km – 550km). Guam, a US territory and military base located in the Pacific Ocean and a location identified as a potential target for North Korean missiles, is approximately 3,400km from Pyongyang and would be within range if North Korea launched ballistic missiles in that direction. Sirens were sounded in Hokkaido following the launch and people were warned via text message to take cover, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warning that this sort of behaviour would not be tolerated. Abe said that the missile launch was “totally unacceptable” and was contrary to the “the international community's strong, united will for a peaceful solution”. “If North Korea continues to walk down this path, it has no bright future,” he said.