► Kim Jong-un releases dramatic missile test video

Watch the video of North Korea’s launch here:

North Korea released a video of its ballistic missile launch on Friday. This missile was the most powerful missile North Korea had ever launched. To announce this “success”, a video clip was shown on the state’s state channel showing Head of State Kim Jong-un in a leather jacket and dark sunglasses. Looks like the pictures came straight out of the (medium) Hollywood movie.

The projectile ended up in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The missile flew for 71 minutes and ended up in the sea about 150 kilometers from the Oshima Peninsula, the southernmost island of Hokkaido.

Japan is a member of the G7, and for the Group of Seven richest industrialized nations, the launch is a “flagrant violation” of North Korea’s UN obligations. The G7 foreign ministers and the United Nations High Representative in the region said: “These actions threaten regional and international peace and security, pose a serious and unpredictable risk to international civil aviation and maritime transport in the region, and require a unified response from the international community.” Joint press release.

In response, the United States announced sanctions against both North Koreans and Russians. The sanctions affect two Russian companies, a Russian and a North Korean, and a North Korean corporation. It is not clear what the charges were against them and how Russia participated in the missile test. According to the US State Department, the sanctions “highlight the negative role that Russia plays on the world stage in relation to these types of troubling programs.”

The last time North Korea tested an ICBM was in 2017.