North Korea launched an intermediate-range ballistic on Tuesday, October 4th, 2020, which flew over Japan. Japan’s close countries speculated that the weapons are designed to strike critical targets in regional U.S. allies.

The missile has been the most significant missile test by North Korea since January 2022. The Hwasong12 intermediate-range missile is able to reach the U.S. territory of Guam. This is the first time that a North Korean missile has flown over Japan since 2017.

The Japanese Prime Minister’s office said that at least one missile from the North Korean government flew over Japan and was said to believe to have landed in the Pacific Ocean. 

Japanese authorities have issued a “J-alert” that alerts the residents of the Northeastern regions of Japan to evacuate to safety place, it’s the first alert since 2017. Trains in Japan’s Hokkaido and Aomori regions were temporarily suspended until officials noticed that the missile landed in the Pacific Ocean. 

“The firing, which followed a recent series of launches by North Korea, is a reckless act and I strongly condemn it,” stated the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida. 

According to the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, there have been no immediate reports of damage after the missile launch. 

While on Thursday, October 6, 2022, North Korea launched two other ballistic missiles. One of the missiles landed in the Sea of Japan, while the other one landed in North Korea. 

It’s unknown if the missiles were launched because of the announcement that the U.S. aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Regan would return to water east of South Korea. 

In a statement, the Joint Chief of Staff of South Korea said the two missiles were launched from Pyongyang about 22 minutes apart in the direction of the Sea of Japan.  

The Joint Cheif of State stated that “North Korea’s successive launch of ballistic missiles is a serious provocation that harms the peace and stability of not only the Korean Penisula but also the international community, and it is a clear violation of the ‘UN’ Security Council resolution.”

North Korea has launched nearly 40 ballistic missiles in over 20 different launch events just in 2022. 

The U.N. Security Council is currently split on how to handle the recent missile launches. China and Russia are confident that the U.S. military exercise has pressured the North Korean government to act. 

The military exercise was led by U.S. allies and was currently in training bombs run by F-15 strike jets. However, one of the ballistic missiles malfunctioned and fell on South Korean land. This made North Korea view it as an “invasion rehearsal.”

Right after the first recent missile launch by North Korea, the United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway, and Ireland called for an emergency meeting to discuss what to do next. 

“The United States will continue its efforts to limit the DPRK’s ability to advance its prohibited ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs, including with allies and U.N. partners,” stated National Security Council spokesperson, Adrienne Watson.