TOKYO—Japanese public broadcaster NHK issued a false alarm about a North Korean missile launch on Tuesday, just days after a similar gaffe caused panic in Hawaii, but it managed to correct the error within minutes.
It was not immediately clear what triggered the mistake.
“We are still checking,” an NHK spokesman said.
NHK’s 6.55 p.m. alert said: “North Korea appears to have launched a missile … The government urges people to take shelter inside buildings or underground.”
The same alert was sent to mobile phone users of NHK’s online news distribution service.
In five minutes, the broadcaster put out another message correcting itself.
Regional tension soared after North Korea in September conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test and in November said it had successfully tested a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach all of the U.S. mainland. It regularly threatens to destroy Japan and the United States.
This photo taken on Nov. 29, 2017 and released on Nov. 30, 2017 by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows launching of the Hwasong-15 missile which is capable of reaching all parts of the US. (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/Getty Images)Days after Hawaii error, a false alarm in Japan from national broadcaster NHK. The network sent a false text alert reporting that North Korea had launched another missile. It was received by people w/ NHK app on their cell phones in Japan. The broadcaster then corrected itself.
— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN) January 16, 2018
There were no immediate reports of panic or other disruption following the Japanese report.
Human error and a lack of fail-safe measures during a civil defense warning drill led to the false missile alert that stirred panic across Hawaii, a state emergency management agency spokesman said.
Elaborating on the origins of Saturday’s false alarm, which went uncorrected for nearly 40 minutes, spokesman Richard Rapoza said the employee who mistakenly sent the missile alert had been “temporarily reassigned” to other duties.
HAWAII – THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE. pic.twitter.com/DxfTXIDOQs
— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 13, 2018
By Kiyoshi Takenaka
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