Speaker 1: Paul, the Japanese government, saying the missile appears to have
Speaker 1: splashed down in waters east of Japan. Let's bring in Bloomberg,
Speaker 1: Sophie Jackman, who is our Tokyo Bureau chief. Sophie, what
Speaker 1: do we know at this point? I know it's kind
Speaker 1: of still unfolding, and I'm being told that Japan's National
Speaker 1: Security Council is a meeting at this hour, right, That's right,
Speaker 1: they are meeting. A typical response following a missile like this,
Speaker 1: but this was pretty unusual this morning. We had seen
Speaker 1: a major ramping up of North Korean missile launches in
Speaker 1: recent months, and particularly in the last week or two,
Speaker 1: coinciding with Vice President Harris's visit to this region and
Speaker 1: even to the demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.
Speaker 1: But today's missile crossing over the Japanese mainland and into
Speaker 1: the ocean was the first time in five years. As
Speaker 1: you said, the Japanese government here issued the Jai Alert,
Speaker 1: which is a civil defense warning system that tells people
Speaker 1: to hunker down in heavy concrete buildings are underground, and
Speaker 1: that warning only applied to the north of the country,
Speaker 1: where sirens were also heard going off, but here in
Speaker 1: Tokyo to all our TVs went black and displayed this warning.
Speaker 1: Pretty scary. There are United Nations Security Council resolutions banning
Speaker 1: North Korea from launching any of these ballistic missiles, but
Speaker 1: whether there will be any kind of penalty for this
Speaker 1: escalation is a bit hard to say. Earlier this year,
Speaker 1: China and Russia did veto a new SECTIONS resolution against
Speaker 1: North Korea for its escalating missile launches, and the world
Speaker 1: is very much looking to Ukraine rather than this part
Speaker 1: of the world. So it will be interesting to see
Speaker 1: whether the Japanese government, of course not a Security Council member,
Speaker 1: pushes for any more severe treatment after this scare today. Well,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the visitor by US Vice President Kamala Harris
Speaker 1: to the region. North Korea typically has a habit of
Speaker 1: timing these weapons test to political events. No reason to
Speaker 1: suspect that this is not one of those cases, correct,
Speaker 1: That's right. In addition to that visit by the Vice President,
Speaker 1: we also had the arrival of the U S. S.
Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan, the aircraft carrier and it's group to South
Speaker 1: Korea for joint trills there, and this is something North
Speaker 1: Korea is not a fan of US South Korean military exercises,
Speaker 1: but this is certainly a bit of an escalation. We
Speaker 1: had seen a bit of buzz warning that the next
Speaker 1: escalation might even be a nuclear test, be that underground
Speaker 1: or or even in the atmosphere, which would be huge.
Speaker 1: That would be the first time in many years, and
Speaker 1: you'd think that that would possibly prompt a bigger reaction
Speaker 1: from the international community as well. This year, in two
Speaker 1: Kim Jong Ian has launched more ballistic missiles than in
Speaker 1: any other year in his in his decade long stint
Speaker 1: and power there in North Korea, so it is definitely
Speaker 1: ramping up. We feel that very acutely here. Sophia. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for being with us in sharing your perspective,
Speaker 1: and we'll keep tracking the Bloomberg terminal to see whether
Speaker 1: or not there is any any statement made after the
Speaker 1: meeting of the Japanese National Security Council, which is underway
Speaker 1: at this hour.