Japan Fails to Find Fragments of North Korean Missile in Akita Waters

Japanese servicemen have not been able to locate the fragments of North Korea’s missile that was launched on Wednesday, Japanese Defense Minister Tomomi Inada told journalists.

TOKYO (Sputnik) – North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its eastern shore early Wednesday. It traveled hundreds of miles before plunging into the Sea of Japan not far from the northern Japanese coast.

The Japan Coast Guard has detected some debris in the sea in the Akita Prefecture area, however, according to Inada, an inspection by the Navy revealed that the objects were mostly trash and could not have been fragments of the North Korean missile.

North Korea is currently under pressure from the international community since its January nuclear test and a long-range rocket launch in February, which resulted in tightening sanctions against Pyongyang in the new UN Security Council resolution in March.

In July, the US Department of Defense announced it would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Air Defense (THAAD) anti-missile in South Korea to counter the threat from Pyongyang.