North Korean missile launch sparks evacuation order in Japan

The Japanese government warned residents of the northernmost main island of Hokkaido to take immediate cover after a missile launch by North Korea sparked concerns it was likely to fall near the island.

Japan’s government emergency broadcasting system issued an evacuation warning just before 8am local time on Thursday, but lifted it soon after, saying the system erroneously predicted that a missile would fall near the island.

Shortly before the alert, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that North Korea had fired a missile into the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s coast guard also said North Korea had fired what could be a ballistic missile.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the missile was of intermediate to long range, citing South Korean military sources.

The missile launch comes two days after North Korean state media KCNA reported that leader Kim Jong-un called for strengthening the country’s war deterrence in a “more practical and offensive” manner to counter what it called moves of aggression by the United States.

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