North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile, Prompting Brief Evacuation Order in Japan

A man walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, on April 13, 2023. Yung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on April 13, according to South Korea’s military, triggering a scare in northern Japan.

The launch prompted Japan’s government-run emergency broadcasting system, J-Alert, to warn millions of residents on its northernmost island of Hokkaido to “evacuate immediately” and take immediate cover in a building or underground, stating that the missile was expected to land near the island.