29 May, 2017
North Korea on Monday fired what appears to be a ballistic missile from its eastern coast, according to the South Korean military.
North Korea is still thought to be several years from its goal of being able to target USA mainland cities with a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action with its United States ally.
"Conducting ballistic missile launches three weeks in a row is an overt defiance of the worldwide community", Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters at the ministry's office on Monday morning, condemning North Korea.
Trump declared at the G7 summit last week that the "big problem" of North Korea "will be solved" and has previously warned that no option is off the table.
North Korea's state-controlled media had no immediate comment.
The North has been stepping up efforts towards its ultimate goal - developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US.
"North Korea launched an unidentified projectile from the vicinity of Wonsan, Gangwon Province, early this morning", Yonhap news agency quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying.
Pointing to North Korea's potent arsenal of tube artillery and rocket launchers that have Seoul within striking range, he said a war on the peninsula, would likely be the "worst kind of fighting" many people would ever see in their lifetime.
The Japanese official also stressed that North Korea's actions are a violation of UN Security Council's resolutions.
"This regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea".
Investors are also awaiting important economic data and events later in the week: PMI data from China, retail sales and production from Japan, the U.S. jobs report, as well as speeches of a number of Federal Reserve policy makers and ECB President Draghi.
"But the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat, if we're not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means".
Markets, however, seem not too influenced by the new ballistic missile test, presumably because market participants simply have "gotten used to it" after a series of test-launches of missiles in recent weeks.
Washington says it is willing to enter into talks with Pyongyang, but only if it halts its missile and nuclear tests.
It says the program is necessary to counter United States aggression.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in immediately organized a National Security Council meeting to discuss North Korea's latest ballistic missile test.
"Japan lacks the ballistic missiles, intelligence, targeting and reconnaissance assets, or electronic warfare and air defense suppression capability required to carry out any effective military response", Schuster said. He said there was no report of damage to planes or vessels in the area.
Pyongyang has conducted dozens of missile tests and tested two nuclear bombs since the start of 2016, in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
The North has been pushing to develop a wide range of weapon systems since early previous year at an unprecedented pace.
North Korea has a large stockpile of the short-range missiles, originally developed by the Soviet Union.
