Aazadan t1_iqz52gc wrote on October 4, 2022 at 3:57 AM

Reply to comment by alien_from_Europa in North Korea launches missile 'believed' to fly over Japan by electromagneticpost

It might be possible if one were on a trajectory to hit Japan (it's not really proven one way or the other). But, North Korea is basically just trying to provoke a response like that. North Korea doesn't actually want to hit Japan in an attack so they either shoot really high where interception can't reach, or they shoot into the ocean "near" Japan a ways over them.

vetsetradio t1_ir036oo wrote on October 4, 2022 at 11:15 AM

I'm no fan of the DPRK, but if you want to get to space from there (or anywhere) your easiest path is East due to Earth's rotation; from N Korea that means right over Japan. I'm sure the response you speak of is a bonus for Kim Jong-un, but if they are shooting for space, there exists no better direction to launch than East.

DeadLikeYou t1_ir2en6w wrote on October 4, 2022 at 8:49 PM

Do you think the missile was NK trying to launch a satellite?

vetsetradio t1_ir3gms6 wrote on October 5, 2022 at 1:25 AM

And they hit the missile button by accident? I doubt it.

It was probably something like a Hwasong-12 --- The missile traveled nearly 3,000 miles and reached Mach 17, with an apogee of 970km (~602 miles), well above the Karman Line of 62 miles (the common definition of where space starts).