Japan Issues False North Korean Missile Alert Days After Hawaii Blunder

Japan issued a false North Korean missile alert on Tuesday, urging people to take immediate shelter, similar to the blunder in Hawaii just days before.

Japan's public broadcaster mistakenly sent an alert warning citizens of a North Korean missile launch, then retracted it minutes later, The Associated Press reported.

NHK television issued the message on its internet and mobile news sites as well as on Twitter, saying North Korea appeared to have fired a missile at Japan. It said the government was telling people to take shelter.

The false alarm came two days after Hawaii's emergency management department sent a mistaken warning of a North Korean missile attack to mobile phones across the state, triggering panic.

NHK deleted its tweet after several minutes, issued a correction and apologized several times on air. It said a mistake in using the alert system caused the error.

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