Japan Mulls Resuming Evacuation Drills For North Korean Missile Launches
The Japanese government plans to start consultations on resuming evacuation drills to prepare for possible missile launches by North Korea.
The move comes in response to the North's frequent launches of missiles in recent months, including one with an intercontinental range launched on March 24.
The government is aiming to resume evacuation drills in coordination with local authorities to brace for further ballistic missile launches. If restarted, the exercises would be the first in around four years.
Similar drills had been conducted since 2017 in a total of 29 localities. But the government suspended the practice following a US-North Korea summit meeting in June 2018, citing an improvement in the security situation surrounding Japan.
The government is considering restarting the drills this summer.
North Korea has recently been firing missiles with an unprecedented frequency. It has launched ballistic missiles 10 times so far this year.
The ICBM-class missile launched on March 24 that could potentially strike any part of the US mainland is presumed to have fallen around 150 kilometers west of the Oshima Peninsula in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido, within Japan's exclusive economic zone. The location is the closest point to Japan's mainland that has ever been reached by a North Korean missile.