(CNN) –– South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that North Korea fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile into waters near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula. For its part, the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office said that the missile had flown over Japan and had already fallen into the Pacific Ocean.
The Japanese prime minister’s office tweeted: “Missile launch. Missile launch. Missile is believed to have been launched from North Korea. Evacuate to building or underground.”
Japan says the alert areas are Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata prefectures.
A few minutes later, another tweet was posted saying: “Missile passed. Missile passed. Missile is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean around 7:48am. If you see anything suspicious, stay away and contact the police immediately.” Or firefighters.
Japan’s coast guard also sent a warning to ships in the areas saying “North Korea has fired a possible missile, we urge you to be careful for more information, do not approach them and report relevant information to the Coast Guard if you find the object”.
According to CNN, this is the 30th missile launch so far this year, including ballistic and cruise missiles.
It also comes a day after North Korea fired 23 different types of missiles.
One of the missiles Pyongyang launched on Wednesday was a short-range ballistic missile that landed near South Korean territorial waters for the first time since the division of Korea, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Warning from North Korea
North Korea’s actions come after it asked the United States and South Korea on Monday to halt large-scale military exercises in the region, a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement at the time.
“The situation on and around the Korean Peninsula has once again entered a stage of serious power conflict due to the continuous and reckless military moves of the United States and South Korea,” the statement said.
South Korea and the United States began a series of large-scale military air exercises on Monday to bolster deterrence against potential North Korean provocations. The exercises will involve more than 100 fighter jets and will take place over South Korean airspace from October 31 to November 4.
The spokesman also warned that the North Korean government could take “stronger retaliatory measures” if the drills continued.