President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations officials on Monday denounced North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, into the Sea of Japan.
In his speech at the Asia Zero Emission Community leaders summit in Tokyo, Marcos called North Korea's action "dangerous and provocative" as it destabilizes the region and the world.
"As we speak on economic progress in our region, we found these aspirations in a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific Region. So, such dangerous and provocative actions by the DPRK threaten and destabilize the region and the world," Marcos said.
South Korea's military announced on Monday morning that it had detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile from the vicinity of Pyongyang, which ultimately landed in the East Sea, which is commonly referred to as the Sea of Japan.
The Japanese Coast Guard said the missile fell about twenty minutes after it was first reported to have been launched. According to early accounts, it seemed to have landed outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone.
United Nations Security Council resolutions have outlawed all of North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile operations, but Pyongyang continues to insist on its sovereign right to self defense.
According to Japan's defense ministry, the missile had a potential range of over 15,000 kilometers, which encompasses the whole United States.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kushida called North Korea's two missile launches a "threat to peace and stability."
Japanese legislator Masahisa Sato said the missile reached a height of 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles).
The flight characteristics corresponded with the Hwasong-18 missile test conducted by North Korea in July. The missile was initially tested in April.
North Korea has conducted numerous ICBM tests since 2017 in an effort to obtain the capacity to launch nuclear attacks on the US mainland.
However, before April's Hwasong-18 launch, all of the tests used liquid-propellent ICBMs, which must be fueled prior to launch and cannot remain fueled for an extended amount of time.
WITH AFP