North Korea continues its missile defense with intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea fired at least three missiles on Thursday in its latest weapons test, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that prompted the Japanese government to issue an evacuation alert and temporarily halt trains.

The captures have fueled tensions in the region amid North Korea’s series of weapons tests in recent months. They arrived one day after Pyongyang Fired more than 20 missilesthe most shot in one day.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North fired an ICBM from an area near the capital, Pyongyang, at 7:40 a.m. and fired two short-range missiles an hour later into waters east of the nearby city of Kacheon.

The long-range missile, apparently fired to avoid reaching neighboring territory, had a maximum range of 1,920 kilometers (1,193 miles) and a range of 760 kilometers (472 miles), South Korea’s military said.

It was not immediately clear whether the launch was successful.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada announced similar flight details, but said his military lost track of the missile after it “disappeared” in the skies between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

On October 4, North Korea A ballistic missile was fired at Japan For the first time in five years.

South Korean Navy Capt. Choi Yong-soo, who handles public affairs for Seoul’s defense ministry, did not directly respond to questions about whether the missile that the military failed to launch may have failed because it exploded in mid-air.

Citing unnamed military sources, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the missile was unable to maintain normal flight due to phase separation.

The Japanese government initially feared that ICBMs would be flown over its northern territory, but later revised its assessment to say that there were no flies.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office has instructed residents in the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata to broadcast alerts on television, radio, cellphones and public speakers to go into fortified buildings or underground.

No injuries or damage were reported in the areas where the warning was issued. Bullet train services were temporarily suspended in those regions shortly after the missile alert. Kishida condemned the North’s launch and said officials were analyzing the details of the weapons.

South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol said National Security Director Kim Sung-han discussed plans to strengthen the country’s defense in cooperation with the United States at an emergency security meeting.

The office said South Korea is responding to North Korea’s intensifying joint military exercises with the United States.

One of more than 20 missiles fired by North Korea on Wednesday flew toward a populous South Korean island, landing near the rivals’ tense maritime border, triggering airstrikes and forcing the evacuation of residents of Uleung Island. South Korea quickly responded by launching missiles of its own along the same border.

Those launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use them. Nuclear weapons In order to make the US and South Korea “pay the most terrible price in history”, to practice invasion against the military exercises of South Korea and the US.

The spokesperson of the United States Department of State condemned the act in a statement on Wednesday evening saying, “It is a clear violation of the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.”

The statement said: “This action underscores the need for the DPRK to fully implement UN Security Council resolutions.”

In September, North Korea’s parliament unveiled a new “first-mover” doctrine that would allow Pyongyang to launch a nuclear strike. This raised concerns among America’s allies in Japan and South Korea. The two Koreas are technically still at war, and Seoul relies on the US for protection.

In the year The Biden administration has also been short-lived.