News about Yasukazu Hamada

The launches came as the United States-led United Nations Command continued to secure the release of a US soldier who fled to North Korea from the South Korean side of a border village on Tuesday afternoon. Private 2nd Class Travis King, a man in his early 20s, had just been released from a South Korean jail where he was detained on assault charges. Rather than flying to Fort Bliss, Texas, he skipped and joined a tour of Panmunjom, where he ran across the border, according to US officials. According to 3:30 a.m. to 3:46 a.m., South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that from 3:30 a.m. to 3:46 a.m. North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles from an area near capital Pyongyang that was about 341 miles long before crashing into waters east of the Korean Peninsula.

Private 2nd Class Travis King (pictured left) had been jailed in South Carolina on assault charges and was released on July 10 after serving his sentence. Instead of boarding a plane to be returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, he departed and joined a tour of Panmunjom, where he ran over the border. The Wisconsin native's fleeing came ahead of North Korea's launch of two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea early Wednesday in what seemed to be a statement of defiance as the US sent a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in decades.

Following government news that plans to launch a satellite into space in the coming days, Japan threatened to shoot down a North Korean missile. North Korea announced on Monday that the satellite will be launched into space from May 31 to June 11, as part of the 12-day cycle. The Japanese government said it would shoot the satellite down if it were to enters the Japanese territory, as it said that North Korea's plans breach international law. (Pictured: chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsunohas with Japan Self-Defense Forces, inset)

The stalled hotlines are particularly worrying at a time of high tensions, with North Korea launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile launch in a month on Thursday, prompting Japan to advise millions of its residents to take refuge on the northern island of Hokkaido before releasing the warning later. For the first time, the exercise was possibly a demonstration of a new more portable, harder-to-detect missile, as it extends Kim's explosive streak of weapons tests, and came just days after he pledged to expand his nuclear arsenal in more 'practical and offensive' ways. Routine daily communications on the military channels are supposed to avoid accidental clashes along the adversary's contested western sea boundary. Officials in North Korea say North Korea suspended contacts after the South pleaded with Pyongyang to refrain from using without permission at a now-shuttered joint factory park in Kaesong, South Korea.

On Thursday, two pilots, two mechanics, and six crew members were aboard the UH-60JA Black Hawk helicopter (inset top) when it vanished shortly before 4:00 p.m. local time (0700 GMT) on Thursday as it flow over waters off Miyako island in southern Okinawa. Several pieces of rubble have been uncovered by coastguard rescuers, including a door (left and right), a snapped blade, and a yellow life raft that was still packed inside a bag. As he promised to continue the hunt on Friday, Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada managed to hold back tears. "We carried out search and rescue operations in the area through the night, but we have yet to find General (Yuichi) Sakamoto (inset bottom) of the Ground Self Defence Force 8th division, as well as nine others,' his voice quaving.' 'We will make every effort to locate the ten people who are missing,' a spokesperson says.'

The United States slammed the launch and promised to take 'all appropriate steps' to protect its mainland and allies South Korea and Japan. According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the missile was launched at a high angle. The weapon has a range of over 9,320 miles,' in which case it could cover the entire mainland United States,' he said, depending on the weight of a warhead deployed on the missile.'

North Korea continued to test weapons on Thursday, launching at least three missiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that forced the Japanese government to issue evacuation warnings and temporarily halt trains. The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests that have threwered tensions in the region in recent months. They came a day after Pyongyang launched more than 20 missiles, the most the country has ever launched in a single day.

Following North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile over Japan, South Korea and the US military launched a series of missiles into the sea in response to North Korea's launch of a ballistic missile over Japan, the longest-range test to date received international condemnation this week. On Tuesday, North Korea tested-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), sending it so high over Japan for the first time in five years, giving the first warning to residents there to take cover. South Korean and American troops staged a missile drill of their own in reaction, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea launched a Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile over Japan earlier Tuesday, the first time since 2017 - prompting evacuation warnings in Japan. South Korea's F-15K launched two joint direct attack munition (JDAM) bombs against a virtual target at the Jikdo shooting field in the West Sea,' Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the Yellow Sea. The drills were designed to show the allies' potential to carry out a precision strike at the source of provocations.' The missile was launched around 7.20 am from its Mupyong-ri test site, close to China's border, and passed through Japan's Tohoku region about five minutes later. Sirens sounded and civilians were warned to evacuate.