Tokyo has expressed a protest to Pyongyang through a diplomatic channel over the January 11 missile launch, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told the media on Wednesday, Tass informs.
Japan expresses protest to North Korea over missile launch
STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 12, ARTSAKHPRESS: Kishi said that according to Japan’s own estimates the missile rose to an altitude of about 50 kilometers and reached a maximum speed of M10 (more than 12,000 kilometers per hour). South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier published similar data.
The Japanese Cabinet’s Chief Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno acknowledged a considerable growth in the level of North Korea’s missile technologies, adding that this would require extra measures to strengthen Japan’s defenses.
Earlier, the Korean Central News Agency said that on January 11, North Korea carried out a successful test of a hypersonic missile in the presence of the country’s leader Kim Jong-un. The missile flew 1,000 kilometers to hit the designated target. The KCNA report stressed that the purpose of the test was to verify the technical parameters of a newly-developed hypersonic weapon. According to the Japanese and South Korean military, Pyongyang’s missile splashed down outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.
