After North Korea launched a missile, the Japanese government advised inhabitants of the prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata, and Niigata to seek indoor shelter, according to a Thursday J-Alert Emergency Broadcasting System announcement.
The administration eventually declared that the missile had already gone past Japan’s territory and was headed toward the Pacific Ocean.
The launches on Thursday are the most recent in a string of recent North Korean nuclear tests that have heightened regional tensions.
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They were launched a day after Pyongyang launched more than 20 missiles, the highest in a single day, including one that made landfall for the first time off the coast of South Korea and prompting Seoul to respond with air-to-ground missiles.
“We detected a launch that showed the potential to fly over Japan and therefore triggered the J Alert, but after checking the flight we confirmed that it had not passed over Japan,” Hamada told reporters.
The missile flew to an altitude of about 2,000 km (1,200 miles) and a range of 750 km (460 miles), he said. Such a flight pattern is called a “lofted trajectory”, in which a missile is fired high into space to avoid flying over neighbouring countries.
About half an hour after the launch was first reported, Japan’s Coast Guard said the missile had fallen. according to Aljerzera
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