North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile and Japan Retracts Warning to Residents

The Japanese Coast Guard announced that North Korea has launched what could be a ballistic missile. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea also stated that "North Korea fired a missile into the sea off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula." Later, Japanese authorities retracted the warning they had issued, indicating that "the emergency alert system made an error and predicted that the missile would fall near the island." Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida mentioned that his government would hold a National Security Council meeting to discuss the launch. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada reported that "the missile was apparently launched toward the east at a high angle," confirming that "the missile did not fall on Japanese territory, and the Ministry of Defense is analyzing the launch for more details." Hamada added that he "could not confirm whether the missile flew over Japan's exclusive economic zone."