Theresa May is “outraged” by North Korea’s latest missile test, but there will be no changes to her plans to travel to Japan, Downing Street said.
The Prime Minister is heading to Japan for talks with counterpart Shinzo Abe amid heightened tensions following Pyongyang’s missile launch.
(PA graphic)
The missile flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific Ocean in what Mrs May viewed as “reckless provocation”.
At a briefing for reporters in Westminster, a Number 10 spokeswoman said officials from the UK and Japan had been in “constant contact” ahead of the visit.
“We are going on the trip and our plans haven’t changed at all,” the spokesman said.
Kim Jong Un’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes were already on the agenda for the discussions in Tokyo.
“The Prime Minister is outraged by North Korea’s reckless provocation and she strongly condemns these illegal tests,” the spokeswoman said.
“From our perspective, we are willing to continue to work with our international partners to keep the pressure on North Korea.”
An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council will consider possible new sanctions against Kim’s regime and “over the next three days the Prime Minister will have quite a lot of time with Prime Minister Abe to discuss, among other things, North Korea”.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson expressed “outrage” at the “reckless provocation”, tweeting: “Outraged at reckless provocation by #NorthKorea. Strongly condemn latest illegal missile launch by #DPRK.”
Japanese officials said the missile flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the Pacific Ocean. There was no damage to ships or anything else reported. Japan’s NHK TV said the missile separated into three parts.
The launch comes amid heightened tension in East Asia after North Korea threatened to fire missiles towards the American territory of Guam.
The launch happened after Pyongyang expressed anger at joint US-South Korea military exercises.
Reports said the launch was believed to be the first to rocket fired from North Korea over Japan since 2009.
People watch a TV screen showing file footage of North Korea’s missile launch (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters: “We will do our utmost to protect people’s lives.
“This reckless act of launching a missile that flies over our country is an unprecedented, serious and important threat.”
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called it a reckless act (Kyodo News via AP)
Residents on Hokkaido were warned of a possible missile launch by a mobile phone message which told people to seek shelter in a “sturdy building or basement”.