Japan on Tuesday urged residents to evacuate to shelters after North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile that flew over Tokyo.
Eearly Tuesday, the government issued alert urging residents in Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido and the country’s northeastern prefecture of Aomori to stay inside buildings. During a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno as quoted said that after crossing northeast Japan the missile is believed to have fallen in the Pacific Ocean outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone around 7:44 am (local time).
Subsequent analysis of the missile’s trajectory indicates that it crossed Aomori Prefecture about one minute before travelling out into the Pacific. The missile flew about 4,000km (2,485 miles) at an altitude of about 1,000km.
Train operators across northern Japan temporarily halted services and the government issued warnings to both civilian aircraft operating in the region and ships off the north-east coast of Japan.
There have been no immediate reports of damage and Tokyo said it did not shoot down the missile as it was judged not to be a threat. Meanwhile, the South Korean military said that North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile eastward from Mupyong-ri in the northern province of Jagang. Citing Japanese government source. There were no immediate reports of damage to aircraft or ships. Earlier, North Korea fired missiles on Saturday in an apparent protest against joint naval drills .
