"North Korea's ICBM launch, a riot against the international community"...Will Ishiba's voice gain strength?

"North Korean missile, flight distance of 1,000km, maximum altitude of 7,000km"
Defense Force "86 minutes of flight time...New Missile Possibility"
Ishiba Will Speed Up Solidarity and Cooperation with Neighboring Countries
Whether Ishiba will be bolstered by the failure of the Liberal Democratic Party's majority is uncertain.

[Anchor]
The Japanese government criticizes North Korea's ballistic missile launch as a riot that heightens international tensions and is closely watching the possibility of further provocations.

Prime Minister Ishiba's position has become unstable due to the ruling party's crushing election defeat, and his diplomatic ability to respond to North Korea has also been put to the test.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter]
The Japanese government says the ballistic missile launched by North Korea is an ICBM class with a flight distance of 1,000 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 7,000 kilometers.

The flight time was estimated to be 86 minutes, but it raised the possibility of a new missile.

[Ken Nakatani / Japan Defense Minister: It's the longest flying missile ever, and I think it's different from the existing one]

Immediately after North Korea's launch, the National Security Council (NSC) was held at the prime minister's residence to discuss countermeasures.

He then criticized North Korea's launch as unacceptable, saying it was a riot that raised tensions in the international community.

[Yoshimasa Hayashi / Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary: A series of actions by North Korea, including repeated launches of ballistic missiles, have threatened peace and security in Japan, the region, and the international community, and are unacceptable.]

Prime Minister Ishiba, who has emphasized strengthening defense capabilities, is expected to speed up solidarity and cooperation with neighboring countries as North Korea provokes for the first time since taking office.

We are coordinating the China-Japan summit on the occasion of the APEC summit next month, and if it is completed, the North Korean issue is expected to be a major agenda item.

However, it is unclear how much power Prime Minister Ishiba's voice will be given as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party failed to win a majority in the last general election.

We cannot guarantee that he will be able to remain prime minister in the special parliamentary nomination election on the 11th of next month,
Even if you are nominated again as prime minister
, you have to rely heavily on the cooperation of the opposition.

It is pointed out that this situation is increasing uncertainty in Japanese diplomacy.

The instability of the domestic political base and the fluid external security environment after the U.S. presidential election are expected to test Prime Minister Ishiba's diplomatic capabilities.

I'm Kim Se-ho from YTN in Tokyo.