Japan claims North Korea have ICBM failed in flight

On Thursday, North Korea launched a number of ballistic missiles, perhaps an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which led to a shelter-in-place notice for some residents of central and northern Japan.

Tokyo later clarified that a missile had not flown over Japan, despite an early government warning to that effect.

The rocket may have been an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which is North Korea’s longest-range weapon and is built to transport a nuclear payload to the other side of the earth, according to officials in South Korea and Japan.

Without going into any detail, the Yonhap news agency claimed that South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight. Japanese and South Korean defence ministry spokespeople denied confirming the potential failure.

Yasukazu Hamada, the minister of defence for Japan, claimed that after losing track of the missile over the Sea of Japan, the government had to retract its claim that it had flown over Japan.

Former fleet commander of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force and retired vice admiral Yoji Koda claimed the projectile’s loss of radar tracking indicated a failed launch.

“It means at some point in the flight path there was some problem for the missile and it actually came apart,” he said.

“Although the warhead came down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, debris would have been travelling at high speed and may still have passed over Japan”, Koda added.