North Korea conducts missile test over Japan Transcript

Speaker 1: (00:02) North Korea conducted its longest range missile test yet on Tuesday, firing a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years. South Koreans watched a news report of the launch at a railway station in the capital, Seoul. The missile appeared to fly over Japanese territory before falling into the Pacific Ocean. Speaker 1: (00:20) In Japan, the government issued an alert, warning its citizens to take cover and stay inside buildings. The launch also caused a temporary suspension of train operations in the north of the country. Pyongyang's latest launch drew condemnation from leaders in neighboring countries, from South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol, to Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida. Speaker 1: (00:43) Tokyo said it took no steps to shoot the missile down, but defense minister Yasukazu Hamada said Japan wouldn't rule out counter attack capabilities. The latest launch was Pyongyang's fifth in 10 days, and comes a week after anti-submarine drills were held between the US, South Korea, and Japan. Recent missile tests have drawn relatively muted responses from Washington, which is focused on the war in Ukraine, as well as other domestic and foreign issues. Washington has strongly condemned this most recent missile, however, calling the decision both dangerous and reckless. Speaker 1: (01:17) Last week, South Korean lawmakers said the North had completed preparations for a nuclear test, which it might look to undertake some time between China's Communist Party Congress this month and US midterm elections in November.