According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the North Korean missile would have flown over the southern side of Okinawa. The first two groups of the World Basketball Championships will start on the island on Friday.
OKINAWA.
Japanese authorities sent a request to those on the island of Okinawa to stay indoors or underground from midnight local time on Thursday. The warning message also came through Japan’s own danger notification system to Urheilu’s reporters on the spot at 3:54 local time.
The World Basketball Championships are starting in Okinawa on Friday. Finland plays in Okinawa in the same starting group with Japan, Australia and Germany. Another group will also be played in Okinawa, which includes Slovenia, Georgia, Venezuela and Cape Verde. The other World Cup host countries are Indonesia and the Philippines.
A message from Japan’s emergency notification system said that a missile appeared to have been launched from North Korea. of the Japanese public broadcasting company NHK according to what the authorities had saidthat the missile appeared to have missed the island of Okinawa and was headed for the Pacific Ocean.
Already before eight in the morning in Okinawa, the authorities had said that there was no longer a need for evacuation.
According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said that no damage had been reported. According to it, fragments of the ballistic missile fell on the Korean peninsula in the Yellow Sea and in the East China Sea in Korea and also in the Pacific Ocean. According to the Japanese authorities, the missile would have flown over the southern side of Okinawa.
North Korea’s state news agency later reported that the launch of the rocket carrying the satellite had failed. It was North Korea’s second attempt to launch a satellite.
North Korea has said it is developing a spy satellite as a response to the increased US military presence near the Korean Peninsula.
– The latest North Korean launch is very problematic from the point of view of the safety of residents and air and shipping traffic, a spokesman for the Japanese government Hirokazu Matsuno stated.
Sources: NHK, AFP, STT.