Japan Issues Warning For Apparent Satellite Launch

Wires reporting that Japan's J-Alert Broadcasting System has issued an emergency warning for the Okinawa prefecture stating that North Korea appears to have fired a missile and the residents should 'take cover'. Japanese Coast Guard also stating that North Korea may have fired a missile.

• The North Korean gov't has givenprior warningto Tokyo that it intended to launch a spy satellite into orbit.
• BBC: "A spy satellite is a coveted prize for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as it will allow him to monitor incoming attacks and plot his own more accurately. However the United Nations Security Council has banned Pyongyang from launching satellites because it sees them as a pretext to test the North's missile technology."
• This launch would mark the third time in 2023 that Pyongyang has attempted to launch a spy satellite. Reuters reports: "Since 2016, North Korea has developed and launched three types of ICBMs, and now appears committed to placing working satellites in space. [...] North Korea could use such satellites to more effectively target South Korea and Japan or conduct damage assessments during a war, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. On the other hand, if North Korea can verify, with its own satellites, that the United States and its allies are not about to attack, it might reduce tensions and provide stability, he added."