Japan Protests to North Korea Over 27th Missile Launch This Year

MOSCOW, (Sputnik) - Japan protested to North Korea via diplomatic channels over the 27th ballistic missile launch since the beginning of 2022, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said on Friday.

"North Korea is launching missiles with unprecedented frequency this year. This is the eighth launch since the end of September alone. North Korea is [behaving] provocatively and unilaterally raising tensions. These actions on the part of North Korea threaten the peace and security of our country and the region and are absolutely unacceptable. They also violate UN resolutions. Our country has strongly protested and condemned [these actions] via the embassy in Beijing," Hamada told a press conference in Tokyo.

The Yonhap news agency cited a South Korean Foreign Ministry official as saying on Friday that Seoul has unilaterally sanctioned 15 North Korean individuals and 16 institutions. The ministry noted that it would consider additional sanctions against North Korea in the event of further provocations.

"The latest unilateral sanctions hold importance in that [such a measure] was taken for the first time in five years and this is not the end. We plan to impose additional unilateral sanctions against North Korea's provocations and to discuss ways to improve the effectiveness of sanctions in close coordination with the United States, Japan, Australia, the EU and other friendly countries," the official told journalists on the condition of anonymity, as quoted by Yonhap.

The sanctions list includes officials related to North Korea's missile program and those involved in the procurement of supplies for missiles. Seoul has sanctioned individuals from Korea Ryonbong General Corp., the Academy of the National Defense Science, the Ministry of Rocket Industry, Hapjanggang Trading Corp., Korea Rounsan Trading Corp., and the Maritime Administration and Ministry of Crude Oil Industry.

Earlier in the day, North Korea fired a total of 170 artillery shells toward the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea and launched a short-range ballistic missile. The missile traveled about 650 kilometers (404 miles) at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers before falling outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, some 370 kilometers from the country's coast, Hamada said, adding that the missile flew on an irregular trajectory.

North Korea has carried out eight test launches since September 25 and over 25 since the beginning of the year. North Korea has emphasized that its test launches are being carried out in response to the refusal of the US and South Korea to stop joint military drills, which Pyongyang believes threaten regional stability.