SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday, its neighbors said, escalating tests of weapons designed to hit key targets in regional US allies amid stalled nuclear diplomacy.
The Japanese Prime Minister’s office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over Japan and reportedly landed in the Pacific Ocean.
It said authorities have issued a warning to residents in northeastern regions to evacuate nearby buildings in what was reportedly the first warning in five years.
Trains were temporarily halted in Japan’s Hokkaido and Aomori regions before resuming operations later after a government report that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed in the Pacific Ocean.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff also said they had detected the launch of a ballistic missile fired into the north’s eastern waters. It gave no further details, such as how far the weapon flew.
The launch marks the fifth round of weapons tests by North Korea in the past 10 days in what was seen as a clear response to military exercises between South Korea and the United States. North Korea considers such exercises an invasion rehearsal,
The missiles fired during the past four rounds of launch have been at close range and fell into the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. Those missiles can hit targets in South Korea.