North Korea has carried out a wave of weapons launches as South Korea and US proceed large-scale navy drills.
North Korea has fired a missile which flew over Japan, the second in a month to fly over the nation, into the Pacific as Pyongyang continues a record-breaking 12 months of weapons launches.
The missile travelled above Japan at about 7.48am (22:48 GMT), the Japanese prime minister’s workplace stated in a tweet, as tv broadcasters broke into programming to induce residents in some areas to take shelter or keep indoors.
The launch got here a day after North Korea fired not less than 23 missiles, probably the most in a single day, together with one which landed off South Korea’s coast for the primary time and prompted Seoul to reply.
Residents of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures in central Japan had been warned to take shelter indoors, in line with the J-Alert Emergency Broadcasting System.
About 25 minutes after the launch was first reported, Japan’s Coast Guard stated the missile had already fallen into the Pacific Ocean.
South Korea’s navy additionally reported the missile launch, which was over North Korea’s east coast.
The missile went via stage separation, suggesting it may need been a long-range weapon, in line with South Korea’s Yonhap Information Company. North Korea final despatched a missile over Japan a month in the past, the primary time it had executed so since 2017.
Pyongyang has carried out a file variety of weapons launches this 12 months and the most recent come amid ongoing large-scale navy workout routines between the USA and South Korea, which North Korea claims are a “provocation”.
The drills, generally known as Vigilant Storm, contain some 240 warplanes, together with F-35 fighters, staging around-the-clock simulated missions.