North Korea launches a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile in this image released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, July 13, 2023. (KCNA)
TOKYO — Japan’s capital city held its first evacuation drill in five years that simulates a ballistic missile strike by a foreign country.
About 60 residents of Nerima ward in northern Tokyo participated in the exercise, according to a news release on the metropolitan government website.
Such drills aim to disseminate information and educate residents about the actions they should take when they hear a missile warning, according to the release posted last month.
The mock evacuees first gathered to hear officials explain what to do in the event the J-Alert system warns of a missile heading for Japan, a government official dealing with the drill said Tuesday. They then divided into two groups and practiced evacuations for various situations.
Some evacuated to a Nerima subway station while others sheltered in a nearby park, under a scenario in which no buildings or basements were available, the official told Stars and Stripes by phone. Some government officials in Japan must speak to the media on condition of anonymity.
The Japanese government advises its resident to seek shelter in buildings or basements, stay away from windows and hide if they cannot find shelter when they hear a missile warning, according to the Cabinet Secretariat’s website.
This is the second drill in Tokyo since 2018, according to the official. He said more drills will be held but specific plans haven’t been determined.
Japan began conducting evacuation drills in 2017 after North Korea test-launched several ballistic missiles.
The drills stopped in 2018 after launches stopped following President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s summit in Singapore. The COVID-19 pandemic also played a part in the pause.
Japan resumed evacuation drills last year after North Korea began launching ballistic missiles again.
A suspected intercontinental ballistic missile fell March 24, 2022, inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan, according to a document posted on the Cabinet Secretariat National Security Affairs and Crisis Management website.
North Korea launched 59 ballistic missiles in 2022, of which five were possibly ICBMs, according to data posted on Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.
