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The Rotunda
Thursday, July 31, 2025

Latest North Korean missile test continues to strain international relations

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A woman walks past a TV screen broadcasting news of North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean, officials said Tuesday.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula grew on Thursday, Aug. 28 as North Korea carried out a missile test and sent a ballistic missile fly directly over Japan. This prompted the Japanese government to warn its citizens to take cover.

According to reporting from The New York Times, the missile flew for 1,700 miles, hurling over the northern island of Hokkaido before landing in the sea.

When speaking of the launch, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abo said, “North Korea’s reckless action of launching a missile that passed over Japan is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat.”

The launch sparked international outrage reported it prompted an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The Chicago Tribune reported the council strongly condemned the launch and called for North Korea to take “immediate, concrete actions” to “reduce tensions in the Korean Peninsula and beyond.”

“The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear. This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior,” said President Donald Trump said in a statement on Aug. 29.

“Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table,” Trump explained.

BBC reported North Korea admitted to deliberately firing the missile, saying it was a response the joint missile drills conducted by the United States and South Korea. North Korea stated the drills were a rehearsal for invasion.

Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea’s official news agency, quoted leader Kim Jong-un stating the country’s latest drill was “the first step of the military operation of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing Guam.”

Relations on the Korean Peninsula have been strained since July 4 when North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which flew for 578 miles.

They tested another ICBM on July 28 which appeared to be capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States.

In response to the two missile tests the United Nations passed the largest package of sanctions ever against North Korea on August 5. The sanctions cut $1 billion of North Korean exports, slashing the country’s annual revenue by one third, reported NPR.

President Trump also responded to the missile tests, warning on Tuesday, Aug. 8, that any threat against the United States will be met with “fire and fury.” Just hours later North Korea stated they were considering a missile strike against Guam.

According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the missiles used in the July tests by North Korea were the Hwasong-14, which has a range of over 10,000 kilometres.

Considering its range, the Hwasong-14 missiles could potentially reach the continental U.S.

The missile used in the test on last week was likely a Hwasong-12, which has a range of 4,500 kilometers, according to the New York Times. 

A woman walks past a TV screen broadcasting news of North Korea's missile launch, in Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before plunging into the northern Pacific Ocean, officials said Tuesday.