Japan Gov't Issues False Statement About North Korea Launch

Japan — As if tensions over North Korea's imminent rocket launch/missile test aren't high enough, the Japanese government inaccurately released a statement earlier today that North Korea had in fact launched a rocket. The error was the result of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force being confused about radar information, a Defense Ministry official said.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told the media "We caused a great deal of trouble to the Japanese people. This was a mistake in the transmission of information by the Defense Ministry and the Self-Defense Forces."

Kyodo News agency reports that the government released the information at 12:16 p.m. local time via its email-based Em-Net emergency information system. And then retracted the statement 5-minutes later.

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By Planet Data