Tokyo shuts down entire Metro system in response to North Korea missile test

Japan says it is the first time it has responded in this way to its missile early warning system

One of Tokyo’s major underground systems says it shut down all lines for 10 minutes yesterday, after receiving warning of a North Korean missile launch.

Tokyo Metro official Hiroshi Takizawa says the temporary suspension affected 13,000 passengers.

Service was halted on all nine lines at 6.07am. It resumed at 6.17am after it was clear there was no threat to Japan.

Mr ​Takizawa says it was the first time service had been stopped in response to a missile launch. Train service is generally suspended in Japan immediately after large earthquakes, but Tokyo Metro decided earlier this month to stop for missile launch warnings as well.

US officials said North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile late on Friday night (UK time), which disintegrated mid-flight minutes after its launch.

Donald Trump, tweeting about the incident, described the launch as “bad” and said it had “disrespected” Chinese leader Xi Jinping – North Korea’s closest ally.

Japan’s government spokesman says the missile is believed to have travelled about 50 kilometres (30 miles) and fallen on an inland part of North Korea.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the ballistic missile was fired to the northeast around 5.30am (local time) from an area in the vicinity of Pukchang, north of Pyongyang, the capital.

He spoke at a news conference following a meeting of Japan’s National Security Council.

North Korea’s state media reiterated the country’s goal of developing a nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental United States.

The Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on Saturday that the North had revealed two types of new intercontinental ballistic missiles in a military parade on 15 April honouring its late state founder, Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong-un. The parade featured previously unseen large rocket canisters and launcher trucks.

It said: “The large territory that is the United States has been entirely exposed to our pre-emptive nuclear strike means.”

Referring to the United States sending the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier to Korean waters, the newspaper said that "rendering aircraft carriers useless is not even a problem" for its military.

The newspaper says that the North displayed three types of ICBMs during the parade, including two new types that were inside the canisters.

Analysts say the North's existing liquid-fuel ICBMs, including the KN-08 and KN-14, are potentially capable of reaching the US mainland, although the North has never flight tested them.