Broadcasts warned residents not to touch parts of missile if found.
North Korea launched a missile from its capital city of Pyongyang at 6:57 a.m. this morning, on a trajectory that passed over Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido before landing in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 kilometres (1,243 miles) east of Japan at 7:16 a.m.
In similar scenes to last month’s missile launch, which occurred at 5:58 a.m. on 29 August, residents in the Tohoku region were awoken by the country’s J-Alert warning system, which was sent out to local municipalities and mobile phones in the immediate area.
The emergency alert below, which was sent out three minutes after the launch, reads: “A missile has been launched. A missile has been launched. This appears to be a missile launched from North Korea. Take refuge inside a building or underground.”
Warnings were also broadcast on television, with the affected Hokkaido and Tohoku regions shown in yellow.
This alert issued in Rokkasho, in Tohoku’s Aomori Prefecture, utilised the J-Alert siren before announcing that the missile had passed over Hokkaido towards the Pacific Ocean.
Announcers urged residents to stay away from parts of missile if found and asked them to alert police and authorities instead.
According to public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese government issued information about the North Korean missile five times during its roughly 25 minute-trajectory, using both the J-Alert warning system and the Em-Net emergency information system, which is installed at certain government institutions like news organisations and public transportation systems.
One minute after the launch, the Em-Net system was initially used to inform municipal governments around the entire country that “At 6:57 a.m. a missile was launched from North Korea’s west coast towards the Tohoku region“. Following the alert sent out to residents in the vicinity immediately afterwards, the J-Alert System was used to inform people that “The earlier missile has passed from the Hokkaido region to the Pacific Region” at 7:07 a.m.
One minute later, at 7:08 a.m., Em-Net sent out this update: “The missile fired from North Korea appears to have passed from Hokkaido to the Pacific Ocean at 7:06 a.m. No enforcement of missile destruction measures.”
At 7:25 a.m., Em-Net announced that “North Korea fired one missile eastwards from its west coast, entering our country’s territory at 7:04 a.m. and landing in water 2,000 kilometres off Cape Erimo at 7:16 a.m.”
The missile path was similar to the one fired last month, only this time it travelled higher, at a height of 770 kilometres as opposed to 550 kilometres previously, and further, landing in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 kilometres east of Japan, whereas last month’s missile fell into waters at a distance of approximately 1,180 kilometres.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared on television following this morning’s event, requesting an emergency meeting of the United Nations security council, saying that global peace has once again been threatened by North Korea’s repeated provocations.
The missile launch comes just days after North Korea was hit with tougher sanctions, approved by the United Nations security council on 12 September.
Speaking to reporters, Abe said, “If North Korea continues on this path, there will be no bright future ahead. They must be made to understand that. Under the strong Japan-US alliance, we will continue with every effort to ensure the security and the sense of security of the Japanese people.”
Sources: NHK, Sankei News, TBS News
Featured image: Twitter/OonaMcGee