Sirens blare as Japan, fearing North
Korea, holds first missile drill
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[March 17, 2017]
By Hyun Oh
OGA, Japan (Reuters) - Sirens blared and
loudspeakers broadcast warnings in Japan's first civilian missile
evacuation drill on Friday, conducted in a fishing town by officials
wary about the threat of North Korean missiles.
The exercise comes more than a week after North Korea launched four
ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan's northwest coast, with one
rocket landing about 200 km (124 miles)from the town of Oga.
Friday's drill played out a scenario in which North Korea had fired a
ballistic missile on the Japanese islands.
"The missile is seen to have landed within a 20-km (12-mile) boundary
west of the Oga peninsula," a speaker blared during the evacuation. "The
government is currently examining the damage." (For a graphic on missile
evacuation drill in Oga, Japan, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2ngq11y)
Residents of the largely rural peninsula jutting into the ocean about
450 km (280 miles) north of the capital, Tokyo, made their way to a
designated evacuation center equipped with emergency kits and protective
gear.
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Schoolchildren in another part of town crouched down to the ground
before hurrying inside a gymnasium.
"I've seen missiles flying between foreign countries on television, but
I never imagined this would happen to us," said Hideo Motokawa, a
73-year-old who participated in the drill.
Officials said the exercise was prompted by growing concern about the
regional security situation.
"Anything can happen these days, and it's even more true when we cannot
anticipate the behavior of our neighboring countries," said Osamu Saito,
a security supervisor in the prefecture of Akita where Oga is located.
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![](../images/031717pics/news_r33.jpg)
Elementary school students squat down on the street as they
participate in an evacuation drill for local residents based on the
scenario that a ballistic missile launched landed in Japanese
waters, in Oga, Akita prefecture, Japan March 17, 2017. Kyodo/via
REUTERS
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North Korea is also developing nuclear-tipped missiles, in defiance
of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions, and conducting
nuclear tests in what U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
described during a visit to Japan as an "ever-escalating threat."
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on
Friday the missile drill was worthwhile, to help educate the public.
Some Oga residents worried about how they would react in a real
attack.
"It's a scary thing," said participant Emiko Shinzoya, 73. "If it
did actually happen, I don't think we can do what we practiced
today. We'll just be panicked."
(Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Clarence
Fernandez)
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