Abe slams N. Korea missile launch as 'grave threat' to security
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan lodged a stern protest with North Korea on Wednesday over its launch of a ballistic missile in the morning, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemning the latest provocation as a "grave threat" to Japanese security.
"The missile seems to have fallen in our country's exclusive economic zone and posed a grave threat to our country's security. It is an unforgivable, reckless act," Abe told reporters.
The missile, launched toward the Sea of Japan from the southwest of North Korea at around 7:50 a.m., flew 1,000 kilometers and landed in waters 250 km west of the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture, northeastern Japan, the first time that a North Korean missile's warhead has fallen in Japan's EEZ, the Defense Ministry said.
"It is a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and Japan has firmly protested to North Korea. Japan will deal with the matter resolutely in collaboration with the United States and South Korea," Abe said.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters the missile launch was a "serious provocative act to not only Japan's peace and safety but also to those in the region and the international community."
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160803/p2g/00m/0dm/068000c
