TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday that North Korea’s missile has landed outside Japan’s territorial waters and that he was convening a meeting of the National Security Council.
“North Korea has fired a ballistic missile. I confirm that the missile did not land within our country’s territorial waters. After that, I will receive a detailed report, and then the National Security Council, involving four key ministers, will be convened,” Kishida told journalists.
The Japanese Defence Ministry believes that North Korea’s missile was an intercontinental one, Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said.
North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday morning.
Around the same time, a Sputnik correspondent reported after receiving an urgent notification on his phone that the Japanese authorities issued an evacuation order for the residents of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido amid risks that Pyongyang’s missile could land near the island.
Local media reported that the missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The Japanese military confirmed that the missile had landed without specifying where and adding that there was no chance of the missile landing somewhere near Hokkaido.
There is no immediate information on material damage to aircraft or ships.
The North Korean missile launch on Thursday marked the 9th launch this year. Last year, Pyongyang launched 37 ballistic missiles. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
