North Korea conducted several ballistic missile tests on Thursday, causing panic in central and northern Japan and sending citizens fleeing to safety.
According to the British news agency Reuters, it is possible that one of the missiles fired by North Korea was an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
After the missile was fired, officials issued a warning and said that one of the missiles had passed over Japan, but this was later denied.
Similarly, North Korea has also tested two short-range missiles.
The latest test came a day after a test in which North Korea fired at least 23 missiles over the course of a day, and for the first time one of them landed near the South Korean coast.
South Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyeon-dong and US Vice Secretary of State Wendy Sherman have strongly condemned North Korea's experiments.
Seoul's foreign ministry said the two leaders called the move "regrettable and immoral" in a telephone conversation.
Residents of Japan's Miyagi, Yamagita and Niigata regions were warned to evacuate immediately after the first missile was fired on Thursday.
Japanese officials said that a missile flew over Japan, but later Defense Minister Yesukazu Hamada clarified that there was no evidence of the missile flying over Japan.
"One of the missiles we knew had flown over Japan, so we issued a warning, but later research revealed that this was not the case."
North Korea also tested several missiles on Wednesday that landed near the coast of neighboring South Korea, triggering warning sirens.
The British news agency Reuters, referring to the statement of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that "short-range missiles were fired from the coastal area of Wonsan."
On the other hand, the statement issued by the office of South Korean President Yoon Sookyul said that "the provocation is a regional attack for the first time since the division of borders by North Korea."
South Korean officials say the missiles landed less than 60 kilometers from the coast, which is a disputed maritime border between the two countries.
The missiles fell on the east coast, 57 km from the South Korean city of Sokcho, while the area is 197 km from Aluing.
After the missile fell, South Korean officials issued an airstrike warning and sirens were sounded.
"We heard the sirens at 8:55 a.m. and immediately rushed to safety and stayed there until reports came in that the missile had landed in the sea," Aluing officials told Reuters.
