AFTER MISSILE FIRED OVER JAPAN
stability and efforts to create space for dialogue”, a spokeswoman said.
Even China, North Korea’s lone major ally, signalled it was growing impatient with Jong-un. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the crisis was “approaching a critical juncture”.
But North Korea’s ambassador to the UN, Han Tae-song, said tensions were being driven by America.
Joint US-South Korea military drills currently taking place in the region are part of “long-standing US hostile policy” towards North Korea, he claimed. The ambassador added: “The US is driving the situation of the Korean peninsula towards an extreme level of explosion by deploying huge strategic assets around the peninsula, by conducting a series of nuclear war drills and maintaining nuclear freeze and blackmail for over half a century.
“Now that the US has openly declared its hostile intention towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, by waging aggressive joint military exercises despite repeated warnings, my country has every reason to respond with tough countermeasures as an exercise of its right to self defence. “The US should be wholly responsible for the catastrophic consequences it will entail.” The missile flew an estimated 1677 miles and passed over the island of Hokkaido before crashing into the Pacific. Thought to be a newly developed Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile, it was believed to be the first rocket fired from North Korea over Japan since 2009.
Japanese citizens were told to take shelter as air raid sirens blared but the military did not attempt to bring down the missile.
Russia relocated 1500 people from its 24-mile border with North Korea after the missile launch, it was reported yesterday.
However, the relocation was later described as a “training exercise”.