<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Thursday, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that triggered an alert for residents in parts of central and northern Japan to seek shelter.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Despite an initial government warning that a missile had overflown Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Officials in South Korea and Japan said the missile may have been an ICBM, which are North Korea's longest-range weapons, and are designed to carry a nuclear warhead to the other side of the planet.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight, Yonhap news agency reported, without elaborating. Spokespeople for the South Korean and Japanese ministries of defence declined to confirm the possible failure.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Japanese Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the government lost track of the missile over the Sea of Japan, prompting it to correct its announcement that it had flown over Japan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Retired Vice Admiral and former Japan Maritime Self Defense Force fleet commander Yoji Koda said the loss of radar tracking on the projectile pointed to a failed launch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It means at some point in the flight path there was some problem for the missile and it actually came apart," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the warhead came down in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, debris, which would have been travelling at high speed, may still have passed over Japan, Koda added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">North Korea has had several failed ICBM tests this year, according to South Korean and U.S. officials. CNN</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>