Why Did Japan Not Intercept Tuesday Morning's North Korean Missile Launch

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, is seen at a National Security Council meeting at the prime minister's office in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Aug. 29, 2017. (Photo taken from the prime minister's office Facebook page)

DW: What stopped Japan from intercepting North Korean missile?

The altitude and speed of Hwasong-12 would have made it very difficult to destroy missile in flight, while failure would have been embarrassing for Japan and encouraging to N Korea. Julian Ryall reports from Tokyo.

In the aftermath of North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile across Japan early on Tuesday morning, the Japanese government went to great lengths to reassure the public that it is taking all the necessary steps to protect them. In truth, however, there was effectively very little that the Japanese military could have done to neutralize this latest provocation by Pyongyang.

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More News On Japan's Missile Defense

Limitations to missile interception exposed in latest N. Korean missile launch -- The Mainichi
Exclusive: Japan seeks new U.S. missile radar as North Korea threat grows - sources -- Reuters
Japan's missile defences 'not able to intercept North Korean ICBMs fired at Guam' -- The Telegraph
Japan faces obstacles to deploying new missile defenses -- Nikkei Asian Review
Japan: Tokyo Accelerates Its Missile Defense Initiative -- Stratfor
Implications of the Hokkaido missile miss -- Stephen Bryen, Asia Times

Update: This is why the U.S. did not intercept the missile .... Why Didn’t the US Shoot Down That North Korean Missile? (Defense One).