TOKYO — North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, the South Korean military said, prompting a rare warning by the Japanese government for residents in two northern prefectures to seek shelter.
The launch represented a major escalation by North Korea, which has conducted a flurry of missile tests in recent days as the United States and its allies held military drills in the region.
According to Japan’s Ministry of Defense, the missile passed over Japan toward the Pacific Ocean at 7:22 a.m. and landed in the ocean 17 minutes later. Japan said the missile crashed down outside its exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from its shores.
North Korea has fired 23 ballistic and other missiles this year — four just this week — but it was the first time since the 2017 launch that Japan had issued a warning for residents to take shelter.
The government exhorted people in the prefectures of Aomori and Hokkaido, as well as several islands near Tokyo, to seek shelter while it tracked the path of the missile.
The last time a North Korean missile flew over Japan was on Sept. 15, 2017, when the country launched its intermediate-range ballistic missile Hwasong-12. The missile flew 2,300 miles, crashing into waters 1,370 miles east of Hokkaido, the northernmost main Japanese island.
Motoko Rich reported from Tokyo, and Choe Sang-Hun from Seoul.
