The Government of Japan has withdrawn Thursday the evacuation order for residents on the island of Hokkaido, in the north of the archipelago, issued shortly before because of the launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea.
»Evacuate immediately. Evacuate immediately,» was the warning issued by the Japanese emergency system when it was considered that it could fall near Hokkaido, withdrawn about 20 minutes later when it was verified that the missile would not hit the surroundings of the main island in the north of the country.
The Japanese government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, has defended the decision to issue the alert and said he considered it was »appropriate», according to the newspaper ‘The Japan Times’. In view of the role of the J-Alert system, which is to quickly inform the public of the danger of falling objects such as missiles, we issued the alert from the point of view of prioritizing the safety of the Japanese people,» he argued.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the missile, which was fired eastward by Pyongyang at a steep angle, did not hit Japanese territory or its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends 370 kilometers offshore from its coast.
For his part, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has ordered to devote maximum effort to analyze the situation and provide adequate information, as well as to ensure the safety of Japanese aircraft and vessels. We will take all possible precautionary measures, including contingency preparedness,» reads a statement from his office.
The evacuation order implied the temporary suspension of bullet train transportation, while Japanese authorities urged caution to aircraft in the airspace near the island. They also urged the population not to travel by road as a precautionary measure.
This is the seventh time that Tokyo has issued nationwide instant alerts, the last time was on October 4, 2022, when a ballistic missile passed over Aomori Prefecture and is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean, outside the Japanese EEZ, with a flight range of about 5,000 kilometers, the longest among North Korean ballistic missiles.
The missile launch, which has been condemned by Japan, South Korea and the United States, comes days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with senior members of the country’s Armed Forces to stress the »need» for »more offensive» war deterrence.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
