Japan has reportedly issued an emergency alert after it was believed that North Korea launched a missile. The Japanese government urged residents to seek shelter as soon as possible in a terrifying announcement after alarms were raised about the missile launch. According to the reports, North Korea has fired three missiles on Japan.
A tweet from BNO news agency stated: “Japanese emergency alert: ‘North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Take shelter in a sturdy building or underground. Issued for: Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata.’”
However, the warnings were later cancelled after the missile fell into Pacific Ocean, reported the news agency.
On Wednesday, North Korea fired at least 23 missiles into the sea on Wednesday, including one that landed less than 60 km (40 miles) off South Korea’s coast, which South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol described as “territorial encroachment” and Washington denounced as “reckless”.
It was the first time a ballistic missile had landed near the South’s waters since the peninsula was divided in 1945, and the most missiles fired by the North in a single day.
South Korea issued rare air raid warnings and launched its own missiles in response.
North and South Korea have fired a number of missiles into waters near each other’s coasts in a marked escalation of hostilities.
Seoul responded with warplanes firing three air-to-ground missiles over the disputed maritime demarcation line.
Later Pyongyang fired six more missiles and a barrage of 100 artillery shells.
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It has continued to advance its military capability – in breach of United Nations Security Council resolutions – to threaten its neighbours and potentially even bring the US mainland within striking range.
On Monday, a US nuclear-powered submarine arrived off the coast of South Korea to take part in the latest in a series of joint US-South Korean drills, which began in August.
Dubbed “Vigilant Storm”, they are the largest exercises Seoul and Washington have ever held, involving hundreds of military aircraft from both sides.