North Korea on Thursday fired multiple missiles including an intercontinental ballistic missile forcing Japan to issue alerts to residents in three regions to take shelter. The move comes a day after Pyongyang fired more than 20 missiles including one that landed off South Korea coast for the first time and prompted Seoul to fire air-to ground missiles in response. The United States urged all nations to enforce sanctions on North Korea, saying it violated UN Security Council resolutions with a launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, including a long-range missile, adding to the growing tally in a record year of weapons tests. The launches came a day after North Korea fired about two dozen missiles, with one falling near South Korean waters for the first time since the end of the Korean War nearly 70 years ago.

Japan had alerted that one of Thursday missiles might have flown over its territory, ordering residents in its northern prefectures to take shelter indoors. Tokyo later corrected the announcement, saying it had lost track of the missile. In early October, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, which sparked evacuation orders and triggered strong condemnation from Tokyo and Washington. South Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff said the long-range missile was fired from near Pyongyang Sunan area at around 7:40 a.m. local time. It flew about 760 kilometers (472 miles) and reached an altitude of 1,920 kilometers (1,193 miles). About an hour later, two short-range missiles were fired from the nearby city of Kacheon, according to the JCS.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP