President Donald Trump Monday tweeted that North Korea showed "great disrespect" for China by launching a ballistic missile on Sunday, but lauded China for "trying hard."
On Sunday, North Korea launched its missile close to Wonsan, a city near the country's coast, said South Korean military sources. While Trump's initial tweet lauded China and spoke of North Korea's disrespect, another country, Japan, was the nation to protest the launch, after the missile landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan
"This ballistic missile launch by North Korea is highly problematic from the perspective of the safety of shipping and air traffic and is a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in televised remarks.
"Japan absolutely cannot tolerate North Korea's repeated provocative actions. We have strongly protested to North Korea and condemn its actions in the strongest terms," he added.
Suga said no ships or planes appear to have been hit.
The launch came hours after North Korean President Kim Jong Un supervised the test of a new anti-aircraft weapon, while ordering its mass production nationwide. According to the South Korean military, the fired weapon appears to have been a Scud-type missile. It flew 280 miles before landing in the sea.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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