'ICBM-class' North Korea missile landed in Japan's EEZ: PM Fumio Kishida

A woman walks past a television showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on February 18, 2023. Credit: AFP Photo

A suspected ballistic missile fired from North Korea on Saturday is believed to have landed within Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.

"It appears the ballistic missile fired by North Korea landed within Japan's EEZ, west of Hokkaido," Kishida told reporters.

Japan's deputy defence minister Toshiro Ino earlier said the missile was expected to land about 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Oshima island in northern Japan's Hokkaido at approximately 6:27 pm (0927 GMT).

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Kishida said he had "instructed (officials) to provide information to the public and thoroughly check the safety situation".

Meanwhile, a top government official said that the missile was suspected to be an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

North Korea "fired one ICBM-class ballistic missile toward the east. It flew for about 66 minutes," chief government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters.

Last November, a missile fired by Pyongyang was also believed to have landed in Japan's EEZ as North Korea carried out an unprecedented volley of launches.