North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Thursday, April 13, triggering a brief alert in the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, whose inhabitants were asked to take shelter as a precaution.
“Evacuate immediately. Evacuate immediately”
, ordered the Japanese government in a message, asking residents of Hokkaido to take refuge in buildings or underground and estimating that the missile would fall around 08:00 (23:00 GMT).
The Japanese Coast Guard and local officials in Hokkaido, however, said soon after that there was no danger.
"After confirming the information, there is no possibility that the missile will fall on Hokkaido or nearby areas
," said the mayor of Asahikawa city, Hokkaido, citing the emergency network of the national government.
"South Korean puppets"
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that
"North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea"
, the Korean name for the Sea of Japan, without providing further details.
Pyongyang has stepped up arms tests in recent months, heightening tension with Seoul and Washington, which for their part have strengthened their military cooperation and carried out major joint maneuvers in the region.
On Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for increasing his country's deterrence capabilities to counter
"the escalation of maneuvers by US imperialists and treacherous South Korean puppets to unleash a war of aggression"
, according to the official KCNA news agency.