On Wednesday morning, after South Korea’s military reported that North Korea had launched what it dubbed a “space launch vehicle,” Japan momentarily activated its missile alert warning system for the Okinawa region.
A missile warning system was first activated for the southern region in response to the launch.
“Missile launch. Missile launch. North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Please take shelters inside buildings or underground,” said the alert tweeted by the prime minister’s office and carried on national broadcaster NHK.
But around 30 minutes later, the government tweeted that the alert was being cancelled.
“It is expected that the missile reported earlier will not come to Japan. The call for evacuation is lifted,” it said.
In reaction to launches by Pyongyang, Japan has previously activated its missile early warning alarms multiple times, though the alerts are typically immediately lifted.
