After confirmation from authorities that North Korea launched a ballistic missile that went over Japanese territory for the first time in five years, shares of South Korean and Japanese defense corporations spiked during the Asian session.
The latest action by Pyongyang was denounced by U.S. authorities as “reckless and hazardous,” adding that it posed a “unacceptable threat to the Japanese populace.” They pleaded with the nation to forgo further “illegal and destabilizing acts.”
Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, referred to the North’s most recent actions as “barbaric.” Additionally, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that in view of Pyongyang’s ongoing provocations, his government is mulling tougher sanctions against it.
In South Korea, shares of Korea Aerospace, which also creates fighter jets, increased by more than 4% in the morning session, while Hanwha Aerospace, a producer of aircraft engines, saw its shares rise by more than 3%.
The military equipment manufacturer Victek also rose more than 11%, hitting its highest levels in more than a month.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which produces military equipment through its aircraft, defense, and space business and is based in Japan, increased by more than 3% during the Asian trading session. In the early hours of Asia, Hosoya Pyro-Engineering, which produces flare bombs and smoke candles for the Japanese self-defense forces, also had gains of more than 5%.
