Japan issues evacuation alert in Hokkaido over North Korean missile... "Likely fell outside EEZ" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 13th, the Japanese government issued an evacuation alert for the Hokkaido region as it anticipated that a ballistic missile launched by North Korea into the Sea of Japan would fall near Hokkaido, NHK reported.

At 7:58 a.m. that day, the Japanese government used the nationwide alert system (J-ALERT), which urgently delivers information to local governments via satellite, to instruct people to immediately take shelter inside buildings or underground, stating, "The ballistic missile is expected to fall near Hokkaido around 8 a.m."

Kyodo News, citing a Japanese government official, reported that the missile launched from North Korea appeared to have fallen outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Japanese government urgently convened a response team at the Prime Minister's Office, and the Ministry of Defense, led by Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu, plans to conduct an analysis. Defense Minister Hamada told reporters, "We plan to proceed with the analysis."

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