TOKYO, March 3. /TASS/. Short-range missiles launched on Thursday by North Korea in the direction of the Sea of Japan posed no threat to Japan’s security, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.
"There was no direct threat [to Japan]. We are currently analyzing the circumstances of the launches," he said. "Tokyo will continue to maintain close contacts with Washington and Seoul on the North Korean problem."
Yonhap News Agency said earlier on Thursday citing South Korea’s army command missiles were launched from the from the vicinity of the city of Wonsan at 10:00 a.m. local time (04:00 Moscow time) and fell into the Sea of Japan. Artillery fire is excluded.
According to Japanese mass media, this way North Korea is seeking to demonstrate its discontent with the actions of the world community after the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 2270 on tougher sanctions against North Korea.
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Japanese PM calls on North Korea to heed int’l community and refrain from provocations
Japan hopes North Korea will heed the international community and will refrain from further provocative actions following the United Nations Security Council resolution on tougher sanctions, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a statement circulated by his office on Thursday.
Having adopted the United Nations resolution in response to North Korea’s nuclear test and a ballistic missile launch, the international community has demonstrated its resolute position on Pyongyang. The same can be said about tougher unilateral sanctions imposed earlier by a number of countries, the Japanese prime minister said.
Japan, in his words, calls on North Korea to heed these signals from the international community, strictly obey by the resolution and refrain from provocative actions such as nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.
He pledged that his country, as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, will cooperate with other countries to secure Pyongyang’s implementation of the resolution.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Tokyo’s policy towards North Korea will combine dialogue and pressure and will be based on the action-for-action principle. Apart from that, Japan will continue to demand final solution to the problem of abducted Japanese citizens, he stressed.
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday unanimously passed resolution 2270 on tougher sanctions against North Korea in retaliation for Pyongyang’s tests of nuclear weapons and the use of a ballistic missile to launch a satellite. The resolution, agreed by Russia, the United States and China, imposes serious restrictions - up to a total ban - on importing coal, iron ore, titanium, vanadium and other precious metals from the DPRK and an embargo on delivery of aviation and rocket fuel to the country. The U.N. Security Council resolution envisages the imposition of sanctions against the North Korean banking sector and targeted sanctions against a number of persons and organizations linked to the North Korean nuclear and missile programs.
The North Korean authorities announced on February 7 that they had launched a carrier rocket with the satellite Kwanmenson (the Bright Star). A month before the launch, Pyongyang held the fourth underground nuclear test over the past ten years.