Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, center, arrives at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kyodo News via AP
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Kyodo News via AP
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, center, arrives at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Kyodo News via AP
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile at Japan, neighboring countries said, escalating testing of a weapon designed to strike key regional targets. US allies amid stalled nuclear diplomacy.
At least one missile fired from North Korea has flown over Japan and is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean, the prime minister’s office said.
It said authorities had issued a warning to people in northeastern areas to evacuate nearby buildings in what is believed to be the first warning in five years.
Trains were suspended in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions of Japan before resuming later after the government announced that a North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific Ocean.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they also detected the launch of a ballistic missile that was fired towards the waters east of North Korea. It did not give details such as how far the weapon flew.
The launch was North Korea’s fifth weapons test in the past 10 days, seen as a clear response to military drills between South Korea and the United States. North Korea views such drills as an invasion rehearsal.
The missiles fired in the past four launches were all short-range and fell into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. These missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea.
