North Korea test-fired another short-range ballistic missile early Monday, just days after the G-7 demanded that Pyongyang give up its nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. Pacific Command says the launch came near the town of Wonsan on North Korea’s east coast. The command tracked the missile for six minutes before it fell into the Sea of Japan, in what is known as Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The command says the missile posed no threat to North America. But an angry Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to respond.
“Working with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North Korea,” Abe said on Japanese television.
This was North Korea’s second missile test in a week, coming even after the U.N. threatened more sanctions and G-7 leaders condemned the North.
North Korea apparently is determined to develop a missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon and able to reach the U.S. mainland. But it is nearly impossible to know how much progress it has made towards that goal.
The Trump administration, while serving up strong words against the North and its leader Kim Jong Un, has yet to come out with a firm policy on how to react to Pyongyang.
Along with the threat of more sanctions, it has sent a naval force off the Korean peninsula and held joint military exercises with South Korea as warnings.
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