Japan's J-Alert text message warning system advised people in the northern region to seek shelter immediately after Tuesday's missile launch by North Korea.
 
According to the Japanese public broadcaster NHK, the Japanese government announced that North Korea fired what appears to be a missile toward the northeastern region of Japan at 5:58 a.m. and warned people in northern Japan to take necessary precautions.
 
NHK issued reports on the North’s missile launch from 6:02 a.m., advising its citizens to take refuge in shelters or solid buildings. The alert was issued for residents in 12 regions including Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate and Nagano.
 
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said during an emergency news briefing that the North Korean missile passed over the Cape of Erimo in the Hokkaido region at 6:06 a.m. and fell into the Pacific Ocean one-thousand-180 kilometers east of the cape at 6:12 a.m.
 
Suga said the Japanese government protests the launch in the strongest terms and has decided to convene an emergency national security council meeting. 
 
However, Tokyo said the Japanese military was not ordered to shoot down the missile.

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