Kishida studies new sanctions on Pyongyang after last missile launch

Tokyo, 24 Mar Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said today that he will seek cooperation from the G7 in condemning North Korea’s new ICBM launch, as well as raising the imposition of new sanctions on Pyongyang.
Upon his arrival in Brussels to participate in the group of seven summit on Thursday, the Japanese leader said that the latest North Korean arms test is “reckless” and “unacceptable”, speaking to the Japanese media.
North Korea today launched what appears to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which fell 150 kilometers off the coast of Hokkaido, north of the Japanese archipelago and into the waters of the Japanese exclusive economic zone.
This is the first test of its kind in almost five years by Pyongyang, and since it is an ICBM it violates the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, as noted by Kishida.
“We will take action from now on, including sanctions, in collaboration with the United States and South Korea,” said Kishida, who also expressed his intention to “seek close cooperation” with the G7 in responding to the new North Korean test.
He also warned that North Korean missile technology “is increasingly improved and evolved,” highlighting the need for “measures to protect the Japanese people.”
Kishida arrived in Brussels on Thursday to participate in the G7 members’ summit held in the Belgian capital on the war in Ukraine, taking advantage of the presence of most of them at the meeting of NATO leaders.
The missile launched on Thursday traveled a distance of 1,100 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of more than 6,000 km, according to data recorded by the Japanese Ministry of Defense, which show a much higher projectile elevation than the last ICBM launch by Pyongyang in 2017.
This essay marks the end of the regime’s self-imposed moratorium on ICBM launches in order to bring positions closer together ahead of the first summit held in 2018 by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and then-US President Donald Trump.
The North Korean regime drew up at the 2021 single party congress a five-year plan for arms modernization that is behind the current array of weapons tests (12 since the beginning of the year, a record number). CHIEF
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