Japanese Broadcaster Issues False Alert of North Korean Missile Strike

Japan's public broadcaster NHK's false alarm about a North Korean missile launch which was received on a smart phone is pictured in Tokyo, Jan. 16, 2018.

Another false alert about a impending missile strike from North Korea was issued Tuesday — this time in Japan.

Public broadcaster NHK sent out a message online and through its mobile phone application that read "North Korea likely to have launched missile" and urged people to take shelter either underground or inside buildings.

NHK issued another message within minutes calling the alert a mistake.

Residents in the Asia-Pacific region are on edge over North Korea's continued testing of its nuclear and ballistic weapons arsenal, aggravated by an exchange of belligerent rhetoric with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Tuesday's foul-up happened days after a similar false alert was issued on the U.S. Pacific state of Hawaii, sparking panic among residents before officials issued a correction more than 30 minutes later.

Governor David Ige said the errant message was transmitted when an employee pushed a wrong button during a shift change at the state's civil defense agency.