The Japanese Coast Guard later issued a statement to clarify that the missile had already fallen and that no distress signals had been received from ships near the northern Japanese island.
The message comes shortly after the government warned residents to take cover or evacuate on Thursday morning, following reports that North Korea may have fired a ballistic missile in its direction.
The missile flew about 1,000km, South Korea’s military said, calling it a “grave provocation.”
The missiles’ apogee, or maximum altitude, has not been officially disclosed, though South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said it appeared to have been less than 3,000km — far below the height of some tests last year, which topped 6,000km.
The South Korean military said it was on high alert and coordinating closely with its main ally, the United States, which “strongly condemned” what the White House said in a statement was a long-range ballistic missile test.
A South Korean military official said the test apparently involved a new weapons system displayed at a recent North Korean military parades.
The military was analyzing the projectile’s trajectory and range, and the defense ministry said it could have been a solid-fuel missile.
North Korea has been working to build more solid-fuel missiles, which are easier to store and transport, and can be launched with almost no warning or preparation time.
While North Korea has tested short-range solid-fuel missiles, it has not tested a long-range missile of that type, said Bruce Bennett, a senior defense analyst at the US-based RAND Corporation.
The missile was fired at 7:23 a.m. (2223 GMT on Wednesday) from near Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, meaning it could have been launched from an
international airport close to the capital, a major site for test-firing large missiles since 2017.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called a National Security Council meeting in response to the Japan’s defense minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said the missile appeared to have been fired eastward at a high angle and it did not fall in Japanese territory.
Japan’s coast guard said the projectile had fallen in the sea to the east of North Korea. Hamada said he could not confirm whether the missile flew over Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Japanese authorities retracted the alert for Hokkaido island when they determined that the missile would not fall nearby.
A student there told Japanese broadcaster NHK that the alert caused momentary alarm at a train station.
“For a second in the train there was panic, but a station worker said to calm down, and people did,” the unidentified man told NHK.
The launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for strengthening war deterrence in a “more practical and offensive” manner to counter what North Korea called moves of aggression by the United States.
While condemning the latest in a string of North Korean missile tests, the United States renewed its offer to open talks.
“The door has not closed on diplomacy, but Pyongyang must immediately cease its destabilizing actions and instead choose diplomatic engagement,” US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
North Korea has criticized recent joint military exercises between US and South Korean forces as escalating tensions, stepping up its weapons tests in recent months.
“Evacuate immediately. Evacuate immediately,” the government indicated in its warning, encouraging residents to otherwise go inside or underground for shelter.
A possible strike was projected for around 8 a.m. local time (23:00 GMT), according to the government. The missile was believed to be launched around 7:25 a.m. (22:25 GMT), according to local media, with the satellite-based J-Alert warning system broadcasting about 20 minutes later.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) also indicated on Thursday that its northern neighbour had fired a missile that landed in the waters off its eastern coast.
North Korea has framed its recent missile launches as a reaction to joint military drills between the United States and South Korea.
In a sign of heightened tensions, the North Korean state media agency KCNA quoted leader Kim Jong Un as calling to strengthen his country’s military in a “more practical and offensive manner”, following a meeting with senior officials.
The meeting of the Central Military Commission was held on Monday in reaction to “the escalating moves of the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors to unleash a war of aggression”, according to the KCNA.
The news agency explained that military leaders there discussed “practical matters and measures for machinery to prepare various military action proposals” that the “enemy” could not counteract.