North Korea fires ballistic missile toward sea, Japan PM instructs to take precautions

South Korea’s military, on Wednesday, said that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile toward the sea, with Japan calling it an emergency alert.

South Korea said that it had identified debris from an earlier launch as part of a Soviet-era SA-5 surface-to-air missile.

The official Twitter handle of PM’s Office of Japan tweeted, “North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow” terming it as an emergency alert.

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida instructed to “dedicate maximum effort to gather & analyze information & provide the public speedy & adequate information. Ensure the safety of aircraft, vessels & other assets. Take all possible measures for precaution, incl readiness for contingencies.”

According to Japan’s Coast Guard, the ballistic missile appeared to have fallen into the sea minutes after the launch was reported.

The missile flew to an altitude of up to 50 km, and covered a range of 250 km, Japan’s Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters.

North Korea, last month in October too, fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Friday, as its rival South Korea was wrapping up an annual military drill that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff had said in a statement the missile flew toward North Korea’s eastern waters but gave no further details including how far the weapon flew.