North Korea launched a ballistic missile intended to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit to “counter dangerous military actions by the US and its proxies” in the region, South Korea’s national defense general staff said, while Japan’s defense ministry said known to have fired what could be a ballistic missile.

Japan’s government has estimated that the ballistic missile launched by North Korea will not land on the country’s territory and proceeded to lift the alert and warn residents in Okinawa through the J-Alert system that there was a possibility that they would need to rush to shelters.

For its part, the municipality of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, said that the warning sent to the mobile phones of residents that there was a possibility of having to leave their homes or the places where they were was “erroneous”.

In Seoul, sirens sounded at 06:32 [τοπική ώρα· 00:32 ώρα Ελλάδας].