North Korea fires missile over Japan, sharply escalating tensions

[webfact]

North Korea fires missile over Japan, sharply escalating tensions

By William Mallard and Jack Kim

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides a target-striking contest of the special operation forces of the Korean People's Army (KPA) to occupy islands in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on August 25, 2017. KCNA via Reuters

 

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a missile early on Tuesday that flew over Japan and landed in the Pacific waters off the northern region of Hokkaido, South Korea and Japan said, in a sharp escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula.

 

The last North Korean projectile to fly over Japan was in 2009. The United States, Japan and South Korea considered that launch to have been a ballistic missile test while North Korea said it was a rocket carrying a communications satellite into orbit.

 

South Korea's military said the latest missile was launched from the Sunan region near the North Korean capital Pyongyang just before 6 a.m. (2100 GMT Monday) and flew 2,700 km (1,678 miles), reaching the altitude of about 550 km.

 

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the North Korean missile fell into the sea 1,180 km (733 miles) east of the Cape of Erimo on Hokkaido.

 

"It is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat to our nation," Suga told a briefing, adding the government had protested the move in the strongest terms.

 

Suga said the launch was a clear violation of United Nations resolutions and Japan will work closely with the United States, South Korea and other concerned nations on a response, he said.

 

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported the missile broke into three pieces and fell into the waters off Hokkaido.

The Japanese government's J-Alert warning system advised people in the area to take precautions.

 

The Japanese military did not attempt to shoot down the missile, which passed over Japanese territory around 6:06 a.m. time (2106 GMT).

 

The Pentagon confirmed the missile flew over Japan but did not pose a threat to North America and said it was gathering further information.

 

The launch marks a sharp escalation in tensions over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month threatened to fire missiles into the sea near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and U.S. President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

 

Interactive package on North Korea's missile capabilities: http://tmsnrt.rs/2t6WEPL

 

 

(Reporting by Jack Kim and Soyoung Kim in Seoul and William Mallard, Malcolm Foster and Linda Sieg in Tokyo, Idrees Ali and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-29

 

[sweatalot]

If Trump doesn't react this time nobody will believe his threats anymore

[steven100]

5 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

If Trump doesn't react this time nobody will believe his threats anymore

I believe this will be the last straw for both Japan & the US.

I won't be surprised to see some form of military action taken by the US.

[over it]

 

In the midst of the ongoing war games, it's time to call an audible at the line of scrimmage.                      

Fake left, attack right, drop kimmie on two.....

[Somtamnication]

Time to wipe out that smug from that guy's face and just go in. 

[Thechook]

Little kimmy wants it so bad, keep poking the bear and pointing your naked rear end in the face of the world and you are going to get slapped big time.  Surely a few well directed hits could take fat boy out easily, a lot of his generals will probably clap and Geez even the t.v anchor woman would rejoice. 

[darksidedog]

Kim is playing a very dangerous game of brinkmanship, which shows a total disregard for the lives of people in both North and South. By continuously being provocative, he has to understand that sooner or later there will be a reaction which, when it comes, will probably be the end of him and the very nasty regime he controls.

[Esso49]

42 minutes ago, steven100 said:

I believe this will be the last straw for both Japan & the US.

I won't be surprised to see some form of military action taken by the US.

Well to the contrary.  THAD is installed in Japan and South Korea  so did Kim really prove that the US do not after all have an actual working system and previously it has been all bull and bluster ?  If so why wasn't it shoot down on over flight of SK or Japan ?

 

Also what exactly will Trump do now. He is as unsatble as Kim mentally so you either have 2 very dangerous goons baiting each other or else you could have situation where 100,000s  of civilians could be wiped out, or more if Kim really does have the capacity to drop one on the US.

 

Dangerous times.  Those two make Putin look conservative.

Edited August 29, 2017 by Esso49

[rijb]

Very interesting video, especially their comments about Trump (near end of video).

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/female-north-korean-soldiers-describe-180607877.html

[lovelomsak]

If the US really has ThAD in SK why did they allow this missile to go where it did.  How did the US know it wasnot an attack? Why did they let it happen? KIm knows the  US are all talk and just provided it. How can the US know that the missile was not an attack? They cannot know so they will sit back till Kim really does send a nuclear missile to Japan or America. I think Japan should question their relationship with the US. It appears that since it wasnot a threat to the US it was not a threat. The US seems to have taken the stance if Kim bombs Japan then maybe they will react. Until then Kim is free to practice sending the missiles.

[boomerangutang]

What to do?  Send in a Japanese Rambo with a team of ninjas, to take out Fat Boy and his multi-medalled yes-men.   Take the crates of Couvoisier and Hennesey back to Tokyo, as war trophies.  

 

Seriously tho, I honestly think Trump will order a surgical strike.  As many as 120 targets, mostly 'command & control' places, and other strategic targets.  Obviously, Kim's boys have been trying to hide themselves and their military hardware as best they can, so I guess we'll have to wait until the smoke clears - to see how successful the first strike was.

 

Unfortunately, N.Korea can retaliate quickly (mostly towards Soeul), regardless of how much damage US initial strikes incur.   Even without the head of the serpent (Kim), they'll retaliate - as they've been programming to do just that for decades.

 

[BuaBS]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

reaching the altitude of about 550 km

Impressive ! Well done Kim ( or the Ukrainian engineers who designed it and partly build it ).

[boomerangutang]

Good points by earlier posts, about Thaad (defense missiles in S.Korea and Japan) not deploying.  Food for thought. 

 

[harada]

Ok, that's it, that's it, Kim, you're in for a severe tongue lashing this time.

[oldcarguy]

Japan NHK TV says this is the 5th rocket over Japanese territory , the first was 20 years ago ,

 

I fear Trump will do something big , when a good slap would be enough ,

 

a few small rockets knocking the heads off a few Kim statues would show what we can do ,

 

Hopefully the "Generals" around Trump  will hold him back

[wayned]

If you believe what you read, some time ago China said that if the US did a preemptive strike to would "back" North Korea.  It went on to say that if NK struck first it would stand back and watch.  Maybe Kim is actually trying to get Trump to do something in hopes that China will back him!  These boys need to be put in a cage with Mayweather and McGregor and learn some manners!

[Jdiddy]

35 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

Good points by earlier posts, about Thaad (defense missiles in S.Korea and Japan) not deploying.  Food for thought. 

 

 

Thaad cant reach 550km altitude and the missile overflew Hokkaido, not the mainland/Tokyo

 

 

[boomerangutang]

43 minutes ago, harada said:

Ok, that's it, that's it, Kim, you're in for a severe tongue lashing this time.

It brings to mind the childhood response to taunts; 

 

"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

[boomerangutang]

4 minutes ago, Jdiddy said:

Thaad cant reach 550km altitude and the missile overflew Hokkaido, not the mainland/Tokyo

                            I assume the N.Korean missile flew just by the north east coast of S.Korea.  It then went OVER Hokkaido.   Hokkaido is part of Japan.   If Thaads are supposed to protect S.Korea and Japan from missile attacks, then they didn't do their job, period.

 

                  Trump is quickly gaining a reputation as a paper tiger (and worse).  Raucus threats, followed by nothing.  Same like his shouts of 'building a great big beautiful wall' and 'repealing and replacing Obamacare' and 'keeping all Muslims from entering the US.'    

 

                      He's done as much legislatively as the Pakistani guy running the 7-11, 3 blocks from the WH on 16th avenue.

 

            Down deep, Trump is an angry little boy with limited intelligence.  I dearly hope he won't start tossing bombs on the Korean peninsula, .....but he's backed himself in a corner by playing by Kim's saber-rattling rules. He threatens to bomb N.Korea in response to the slightest provocation.  When Trump doesn't follow-up on his promises, he looks increasingly weak.  The boy who shouted 'wolf'.

[retarius]

On THAAD not deploying....I read that it takes months to install and then of course will need to be tested before it can be used.

 

I think I might have misjudged Kim. I thought he was not as nutty as Trump, now I am not so sure. He has always seen the US/SK drills around his shores as provocative, but there are other ways to handle such provocation. Weren't the 3 missiles over the weekend enough for him?

 

One has to feel that this is a major miscalculation by Kim. I still have a faint hope of avoiding war but I don't think Kim realizes how war-crazy the Pentagon and Deep State are.

[craigt3365]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

On THAAD not deploying....I read that it takes months to install and then of course will need to be tested before it can be used.

 

I think I might have misjudged Kim. I thought he was not as nutty as Trump, now I am not so sure. He has always seen the US/SK drills around his shores as provocative, but there are other ways to handle such provocation. Weren't the 3 missiles over the weekend enough for him?

 

One has to feel that this is a major miscalculation by Kim. I still have a faint hope of avoiding war but I don't think Kim realizes how war-crazy the Pentagon and Deep State are.

Deep state? Nice conspiracy theory. War crazy? How about interested in protecting their citizens and those of our allies. Nobody wants a war with NK. What's wanted is for Kim to become a good citizen of our global community.

[Stargeezr]

Yes no one has done a thing yet with NK and its fat boy leader. Will China, Russia and Japan wait until the first real nuclear missile is launched. I hope not but then again, nothing for a reaction so far to yet another missile test. What will USA do, that is another question.

Geezer

[55Jay]

KJU just wants to be left alone, and for the US to stop their provocative posturing, and constant threats of invasion. 

[Jdiddy]

Is it a confirmed weapon test or could it be a Satellite launch, 550km altitude and it breaking into 3 pieces seems to suggest that

 

Also it could of malfunctioned and not have been intended to fly over Japan, but head towards the sea of Okhotsk or only make it to the middle Sea of Japan, they are pretty limited to which direction they can fire without pissing off someone

 

[Beats56]

Send the dwarf some poison swiss cheese and die like the rat he is.

 

[Saladin]

I would like to see the US shoot down any missiles that fly over South Korea or Japan which would really send a message to Fat Boy. That they don't, indicates to me that the technology is not reliable enough to achieve success.

[PeCeDe]

2 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

                            I assume the N.Korean missile flew just by the north east coast of S.Korea.  It then went OVER Hokkaido.   Hokkaido is part of Japan.   If Thaads are supposed to protect S.Korea and Japan from missile attacks, then they didn't do their job, period.

 

                  Trump is quickly gaining a reputation as a paper tiger (and worse).  Raucus threats, followed by nothing.  Same like his shouts of 'building a great big beautiful wall' and 'repealing and replacing Obamacare' and 'keeping all Muslims from entering the US.'    

 

                      He's done as much legislatively as the Pakistani guy running the 7-11, 3 blocks from the WH on 16th avenue.

 

            Down deep, Trump is an angry little boy with limited intelligence.  I dearly hope he won't start tossing bombs on the Korean peninsula, .....but he's backed himself in a corner by playing by Kim's saber-rattling rules. He threatens to bomb N.Korea in response to the slightest provocation.  When Trump doesn't follow-up on his promises, he looks increasingly weak.  The boy who shouted 'wolf'.

THAAD is designed to strike in the "end" phase of a missile trajectory, nowhere over Japan or South Korea was it in that phase therefore the system would not deploy.

[Jdietz]

1 hour ago, Jdiddy said:

Is it a confirmed weapon test or could it be a Satellite launch, 550km altitude and it breaking into 3 pieces seems to suggest that

 

 

Not how satellite launches work. Can't get into orbit without a very large horizontal component. This is a pure ballistic launch (everything that goes up, must come down).

 

Source: Play KSP.

 

[boomerangutang]

2 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

Yes no one has done a thing yet with NK and its fat boy leader. Will China, Russia and Japan wait until the first real nuclear missile is launched. I hope not but then again, nothing for a reaction so far to yet another missile test. What will USA do, that is another question. Geezer

                    You're right to mention other countries.  This is not just a nuclear chess game between NK and the US.  When Chinese troops crossed the Yalu river and came swarming into NK during the Korean war, no allies saw it coming.  Similarly, Russia or China could instigate something unprecedented by war game players in the Pentagon and Pyongyang.

 

1 hour ago, 55Jay said:

KJU just wants to be left alone, and for the US to stop their provocative posturing, and constant threats of invasion. 

                      I agree, but Fat Boy is playing his cards like a lunatic. Here's what he sees when he looks in the mirror.........

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, 55Jay said:

KJU just wants to be left alone, and for the US to stop their provocative posturing, and constant threats of invasion. 

How about North Korea stop their provocative posturing and actual invasions into the South? Along with stop counterfeiting currency, drugs, selling chemical weapons to rogue states, massive human rights violations and overall poor treatment of their citizens.

 

Or are you ok with all of that?