Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Tuesday issued an incorrect alert claiming that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile, Reuters reported. The broadcaster corrected the mistake within a few minutes and apologised for the error on-air.
This comes two days after panic struck Hawaii after authorities mistakenly issued an emergency alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile. The Hawaiin authorities had said that an employee had hit the wrong button during a shift change drill that takes place three times a day.
“NHK news alert. North Korea likely to have launched missile. The government J alert: evacuate inside the building or underground,” the broadcaster’s alert read. The message was also sent to the mobile phones of NHK’s online news distribution service users.
Five minutes later, the channel apologised, saying, “the news alert sent earlier about NK missile was a mistake. No government J alert was issued.”
However, authorities are yet to find out what prompted the mistake, Reuters reported.
Pyongyang has test-fired several missile over Japan in the last few months. In September 2017, North Korea had conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test, firing a missile that flew over Japan before landing in the Pacific Ocean.
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