Nort Korea launched missile, alert Japan and South Korea

North Korea has launched what could be a “new type” of ballistic missile that landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, prompting Tokyo to lodge a “strong protest” after fears the weapon might land in or near its northern island of Hokkaido led to an evacuation order.

Millions of people on the northern Japanese island received a J-alert, or evacuation order, shortly before 8 a.m. urging them to seek shelter as the missile could land on or near the island.

The system issued the evacuation warning just before 8am local time, but lifted it soon after, saying it had “erroneously” predicted that the missile would fall near the island.

“What is the use of the J-Alert, which warns of a missile falling when you do not know where it will fall?” asked one Twitter user. “In the end, it serves no purpose other than to instill in the Japanese people the feeling that Japan is being targeted, and to scare them.”

South Korean broadcaster YTN, citing a military official, said the test launch could have involved a new type of weapon displayed at recent military parades, and that it was not ruling out the possibility that the projectile was a solid-fuel missile. Solid fuel technology makes rockets easier to transport and faster to launch than liquid-fuelled ones.