Japan and South Korea activate anti-missile alert after the launch of a North Korean space rocket

2023-05-31 00:48:39

North Korea has launched a missile this Wednesday, days after the North Korean authorities revealed their plan to launch a military reconnaissance satellite, which has activated evacuation alerts for a few minutes in the South Korean capital, seouland the prefecture of Okinawathe northernmost island of the Japanese archipelago.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff has reported that Pyongyang has launched what it claims to be a “space launch vehicle” without giving more details that would have happened on the island of Baengnyeong, on the border between North Korea and South Korea.

After that, the city of Seoul has sent an alert to its residents to prepare for a possible evacuationcollects the South Korean agency Yonhap.

The South Korean Presidency has subsequently called a security meeting to discuss the launch of the North Korean missile, noting that “a meeting will be held soon to verify the security situation.”

For its part, the Japanese government issued an alert to the citizens of the prefecture of Okinawareports the NHK chain.

“It appears that a missile was launched from North Korea in the direction of Okinawa Prefecture. Evacuate indoors or underground“, said the statement, that minutes later — at 7:04 a.m. — the authorities issued a second message in which they indicated that “it is believed that the missiles will not previously reach our country: we will cancel the call to evacuate.”

The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidahas ordered the relevant ministries and agencies to collect information on the missile launch.