Pyongyang claims that the firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile earlier this month was a warning to the “enemy.”
Japan has been warned by North Korea that it would “pay a severe price” if the alleged mistreatment of its citizens living there persists.
According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Pyongyang sees the “oppression” of North Koreans in Japan as a threat to its dignity and sovereignty.
The comment likely alluded to claims of an uptick in hate crimes targeting Korean-American students at schools across Japan, according to Yonhap, a South Korean news site.
The launch of a new type of ground-to-ground intermediate-range ballistic missile on October 4 was declared to be a warning to our adversaries, according to KCNA.
It stated that the effectiveness of the warning would depend on how hostile powers, particularly Japan, acted, saying that Tokyo would “pay a severe price” for any steps taken against North Korea.
Pyongyang conducted another test of its illegal missile capability on October 4 by launching its Hwasong-12 ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean.
The missile seemed to have flown the furthest of any North Korean missile to date—4,500 kilometres—after flying over Japan and invoking a warning for inhabitants to take cover.
Additionally, Pyongyang launched a missile over Japan for the first time in five years, which was met with condemnation from Tokyo, Seoul, and Washington.
On Sunday, the leaders of Japan, South Korea, and the US met outside the East Asia Summit in Cambodia and vowed to respond to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a coordinated and cohesive manner.
As a result of what he called Pyongyang’s “intensifying” provocations, US President Joe Biden stressed that the three countries’ alliance was “even more crucial than it’s ever been.”
