North Korea fires its missile

The missile is reputed, as of this writing, to be over the Pacific Ocean having overflown Japan. A Japanese cabinet spokesmans says that the Nokor action was in violation of Security Council resolutions 1695 and 1718. Japan has decided to create a number of committees to study the situation and their response will be announced later. The Japanese are not announcing whether the Nokors have reached orbit or what it’s last observed velocity was. However the Nokor missile was said to have passed “high above Japan”, and there is speculation that the three stage rocket, at 11:30 headed in in the eastern direction, was a “long range ballistic missile”. The first stage hit the sea of Japan 280 km from Akita prefecture. The second stage of the rocket landed in the Pacific 1,270 km from Japan. It’s a big one. Any rocketeers here with a back of the envelope estimate of range based on those parameters?

The US warned that North Korea will face diplomatic consequences, but North Korea announced it would not abide by the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. It calls its missile part of its “peaceful space activities”. The UN Security Council announced it would meet, but since China and Russia have not shown support for the US position, it is problematic how far the administration can get via the UN.

North Korea has been firing longer and longer ranged missiles, which are progressively nearing the US. This missile may go further than previous attempts and augurs the day when CONUS will be within firing distance of the Dear Leader.