Japan warns citizens to take shelter after North Korea launches missile
Japanese citizens were urged to take cover Tuesday after North Korea fired a ballistic missile, according to Reuters. The missile launch was the fifth in 10 days and traveled nearly 3,000 miles, farther than ever before. For the first time in five years, it flew over Japan toward the Pacific Ocean.
“ALERT: The Japanese government is warning that North Korea appears to have launched at least one ballistic missile,” tweeted the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo Tuesday. “There’s a possibility it’s heading toward Japan. The government is urging everyone in the country to monitor news media.”
The country’s missile alert warning system was activated around 7:30 Tuesday morning and alarms sounded throughout the northern region of Hokkaido as the government urged citizens to take shelter.
The United States and South Korea responded with a “show of force” that included firing four surface-to-surface missiles into the Sea of Japan. One of the missiles reportedly malfunctioned and hit a South Korean military base.
The New York Times noted that “[t]he last time Pyongyang launched a weapon over Japan was in 2017, when Donald J. Trump was president and Kim Jong-un seemed intent on escalating conflict with Washington.”
Trump’s response to Kim Jong-Un was to send B-1B supersonic bombers and other warplanes close to North Korea, following which Kim Jong-Un responded with his own nuclear threat.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump warned Pyongyang. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening … and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
However, the Times omitted that Kim Jong-Un reached out to Trump months later, ultimately leading to the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit. An agreement was signed by both leaders which included a commitment by North Korea “to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Tuesday’s ballistic missile test by North Korea signals a change from its unprecedented alliance with the United States, a change some are blaming on Joe Biden’s ineptitude.
“At this very moment, North Korea is firing missiles over mainland Japan,” tweeted former White House Physician and congressional candidate Ronny Jackson. “This is what happens when we have WEAK leaders in the White House. Our enemies are emboldened!”
“North Korea would NOT be launching rockets at Japan if President Trump was still in the White House,” wrote author and national security expert Brigitte Gabriel.
