Sirens sounded in several Japanese provinces on Tuesday morning, including in Tokyo. For the first time since August 2017, the North Korea fired a ballistic missile that flew over northern Japan, triggering the J-alert warning system. The alert was lifted about twenty minutes later, when the missile crashed into the Pacific Ocean, east of the archipelago.
According to South Korean security services, the missile was fired at 7:22 a.m. and crashed at 7:44 a.m., for a 4,500 km flight that lasted 22 minutes, with a peak at nearly 1,000 km altitude. Characteristics close to the capabilities of the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile.
23rd shot of the year
Sirens sounded in particular in the province of Hokkaido, asking residents to take shelter, if possible in a basement. According to the Prime Minister’s office, the missile actually flew over the Tohoku region, north of Honshu, the main island of the archipelago. The alert caused a halt to Shinkansen (bullet train) traffic in the area.
“This is an act of violence that follows repeated and recent launches of ballistic missiles. We strongly condemn this,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. It’s about 23rd missile firing of the year by the scheme of Kim Jong Un.
In August 2017, Pyongyang also fired a missile that flew over Japan. A week later, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test.