North Korea fired a number of missiles, including what would have been an intercontinental ballistic missile that triggered an evacuation warning for parts of Japan.
One of the missiles reached an altitude of 1,200 miles and traveled about 460 miles, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
The flight pattern – an “elevated trajectory” – sees a missile fired high into space to avoid flying over neighboring countries.
But the Japanese military lost track of the suspected ICBM over water between the Korean peninsula and Japan, with Mr Hamada correcting an earlier report that it had flown over Japan.
South Korea said it was likely she failed mid-flight.
Officials in Seoul said the first missile was launched from the North Korean capital Pyongyang, with a second and a third about an hour later from Kaechon, north of Pyongyang.
After the first launch, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office broadcast alerts on TV, radio, cell phones and loudspeakers through the J-Alert Emergency Broadcast System.
These alerts were sent to residents of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures, telling them to go inside solid buildings or hide.
High-speed train services in the three regions were halted, but no damage or injuries were reported.
Prime Minister Kishida said, “North Korea’s repeated missile launches are an outrage and absolutely cannot be forgiven.”
South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong and US Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman called the launches “deplorable and immoral” in a phone call Thursday, the foreign ministry said. Seoul.
It comes a day after North Korea fired at least 23 missiles, including one that landed just 40 miles off the coast of South Korea, prompting South Korea to issue its own air raid warnings and to launch its own missiles.
North Korea has also called on the United States and South Korea to end major military exercises, which it describes as “military recklessness and provocation (which) can no longer be tolerated.”
Nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea have stalled since early 2019.
