Tokyo halts subway trains after North Korea missile test

Trains on Tokyo’s biggest subway were halted for 10 minutes Saturday morning after North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile.

Tokyo Metro stopped services shortly after 6 am as part of measures adopted this month under which services are halted after reports of a North Korean missile launch until confirming that it’s safe to operate, Kyodo News said, citing the operator. About 13,000 people were affected by the suspension.

A ballistic missile was launched shortly after 5.30 am from northeast of Pyongyang, flying for about 50 kilometres before falling on North Korean land, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters.

“Our nation resolutely cannot recognise these repeated acts of provocation by North Korea,” said Suga. Japan immediately protested to North Korea through embassy channels in Beijing, he said.