Japanese Media: "US-Japan Fighter Jets to Conduct Joint Training Following North Korea's ICBM Launch"

FNN Report... "Countermeasures in Japanese Surrounding Airspace"

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The United States and Japan are coordinating joint exercises on the 19th as countermeasures against North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, Fuji News Network (FNN) reported on the same day.

FNN reported that Japanese Self-Defense Force fighter jets and U.S. military bombers are expected to conduct joint exercises in the afternoon after confirming weather conditions. FNN stated, "The exercises will be conducted in the airspace around Japan as a countermeasure against North Korea's launch of an ICBM-class ballistic missile."

The Japanese Ministry of Defense released photos and videos taken from the air by an Air Self-Defense Force F-15 fighter jet that was collecting information near the impact site of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched by North Korea on November 18 last year.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea conducted an ICBM 'Hwasong-15' launch drill under the guidance of the Missile General Bureau the previous day.

The Japanese government announced that the ICBM-class missile launched by North Korea from near western Pyongyang toward the East Sea the previous afternoon fell inside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), about 200 km west of Oshima Oshima, Hokkaido.

Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu said regarding this, "It is judged that the missile's range exceeds 14,000 km," adding, "The entire United States is within range."

When North Korea launched ballistic missiles in November last year, the U.S. and Japan also conducted joint exercises as countermeasures, involving Japanese Self-Defense Force fighter jets and U.S. bombers and fighters in the airspace west of Kyushu in southwestern Japan.