Japan alerted its citizens to be safe and take shelter after North Koreafired a ballistic missile over Japan. The incident occurred on Tuesday morning, and as per BBC, seemed to be a deliberate escalation to get the attention of Tokyo and Washington.
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The missile is said to have flown about 2800 miles, making it the longest ever distance travelled by a North Korean missile, as per NY Times. This provocative act of power by North Korea is condemned by Japan and South Korea.
A dangerous escalation by Kim Jong Un's regime
The missile was fired with no warning and was said to be launched from Mupyong-ri, close to North Korea’s central border with China, according to CNN. It flew for about 20 minutes at an altitude of 621 miles above Japan’s Tohoku region before coming crashing into the Pacific ocean. Luckily there seem to be no casualties reported during the course of this dangerous act by North Korea.
North Korea’s past with missiles
Although this incident with a ballistic missile is the first in the past five years, North Korea has participated in similar activities before. The events that took place earlier today is the 23rd missile test this year alone, which includes both ballistic and cruise.
South Korea's and the USA's governments describe this act as dangerous and reckless from the side of North Korea.
Warning alert in Japan
The citizens of Japan are shaken by the unprecedented incident. People residing in the northern regions of Japan were asked to take extra precautions at a time like this. Alerts were communicated to the citizens via sirens, community radio stations and smartphones at 7:30 AM on Tuesday.
The government urged its citizens to take shelter and keep an eye out for missile debris. They were asked to refrain from approaching it and contact the authorities instead.
Sources used:
- BBC: 'North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan'
- NY Times: 'North Korea Fires Missile Over Japan in Major Escalation'
- CNN: 'Japan issues rare alert as North Korea fires missile without warning over main island'
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