North Korea has fired ‘what it calls a space launch vehicle’, South Korea’s general staff announces

North Korea fired a rocket on Wednesday, May 31, which it presents as a “space launch vehicle”, according to the South Korean military. This launch briefly triggered an alert in the city of Seoul (South Korea) and in the Japanese archipelago of Okinawa.

The city of Seoul, where sirens sounded, sent a critical emergency alert to all mobile phones. She asked residents to prepare to evacuate by passing “children and the elderly first”. Shortly after, the South Korean Interior Ministry announced that the evacuation order was a mistake. “We inform you that the alert issued by the Seoul Metropolitan authorities at 6:41 a.m. was incorrectly issued”the ministry said.

“Missile launch. Missile launch. North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Please take shelter inside buildings or underground”, alerted the office of the Japanese Prime Minister on Twitter to the inhabitants of Okinawa. The alert was also broadcast by national broadcaster NHK. However, the government canceled its alert 30 minutes later, believing that all danger had been averted.