North Korea missile launch detected as Japan orders residents to shelters

27 May 2024 , 13:58

383     0

A missle was launched from North Korea (Image: AP)

A warning has been issued after a missle has appeared to be launched from North Korea.

"Please take refuge inside a building or underground," a media alert issued in Japan warned. It comes after North Korea earlier announced their plans to launch a rocket during an eight-day period starting from today ( Monday, May 27).

Their plans sparked backlash from both South Korea and Japan but their anger hasn't seemed to deter the country from using the missle. The equipment is believed to be carrying a military spy satellite despite the U.N banning North Korea from conducting such launches, viewing them as covers for testing long-range missile technology.

A military spy satellite was launched late last year (AP)

North Korea has continuously backed its plans to launch satellites and test missiles. The country explained that spy satellites will allow it to thoroughly monitor the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea also believes such tests will help them improve its strike capability of its nuclear-style missiles. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting in more than four years.

"Any launch (by North Korea) using ballistic missile technology would directly violate U.N. Security Council resolutions and undermine peace and security of the region and the world," Yoon said at the start of the meeting with Kishida and Li. "If North Korea presses ahead with its launch despite the international warning, I think the international community must sternly deal with it."

I spent £20k transforming myself into human wolf - the result is so realistic

Kishida strongly urged North Korea to cancel the launch. China is a North Korean ally, and Li didn't mention the North Korean satellite. In phone talks earlier Monday, senior diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed to call on North Korea to abandon the launch.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned North Korea to step down (Getty Images)

South Korea's Unification Ministry, which deals with North Korea, separately called a satellite launch by the North "a provocation that seriously threatens our and regional security." In an updated tweet, local media confirmed that the missle isn't expected to settle in Japan. UN Nerve wrote: "The missile that was just launched is not expected to land in our country. The call for evacuation has been lifted."

Last November, North Korea sent its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit as part of efforts to build a space-based surveillance network to cope with what it calls increasing U.S.-led military threats. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later told a governing party meeting that the country would launch three additional military spy satellites in 2024.

Monica Charsley