(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
The National Security Council (NSC) was held at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence a while ago. The Chief Cabinet Secretary will summarize and announce the details. The Ministry of Defense received new information that North Korea had launched one or more ICBM-class ballistic missiles from an area near Pyongyang toward the northeast, at about 7:11 a.m. today. Japan, the U.S., and the Republic of Korea are now working closely to analyze the details, but the launched ballistic missile is estimated to have flown for about 86 minutes before landing at about 8:37 a.m. outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Sea of Japan, approximately 200 km west of Okushiri Island, Hokkaido. Estimations put the flight distance at approximately 1,000 km and at a maximum altitude of over 7,000 km. Based on this information, we have inferred that the ballistic missile launched this time had the longest flight time and highest altitude to date. At present, there have been no confirmed reports of damage to aircraft or ships.