Japan Activates J-Alert Warning System After North Korean Missile Launch

North Korea fired an unknown ballistic missile towards the East Sea this morning, South Korean and Japanese media report. The projectile has seemingly flown over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.

• Japan issued "duck and cover" orders via its J-Alert civilian warning system to residents of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures.
• Yonhap News Agency reports that the missile is suspected to be a mid-or long-range projectile and was separated into pieces.
• Tensions in the region are heightened after Pyongyang fired its largest barrage of missiles yesterday, hitting high seas close to South Korean territorial waters, south of the Northern Limit Line.
• This was the first such incident since the division of the Korean Peninsula, with South Korean President Yoon calling it a de facto "territorial aggression."