North Korea fired three missiles that flew over Japan early Tuesday morning and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese government officials.
There was no immediate information about the type of rockets that were fired. South Korean officials said the launch point was near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Authorities in Japan sounded an alert for the northern part of the country when the missiles were detected, warning people in the Tohoku region to prepare for a possible impact. However, military officials in Tokyo later said the rockets passed over Japanese territory and fell into the Pacific, about 1,180 kilometers from their launch pads.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe immediately called an emergency meeting. Entering his office, he said: "We will make utmost efforts to firmly protect the lives of the people."
Japanese government officials said no attempt was made to shoot down the missiles. Tuesday's incident recalled the last time a North Korean missile is believed to have overflown Japan, in 1998.
An official at the U.S. National Security Council said authorities in Washington were aware of the incident and awaiting specific information from the U.S. Pacific Command on the trajectory and other data about the North Korean missiles.
Officials at the Pentagon had no immediate comment on the situation.
The missiles were fired from North Korea toward the Sea of Japan (the East Sea, as it is known in Japan), at about 5:58 a.m. Tuesday (2058 UTC Monday / 1658 EDT), according to officials in Tokyo and Seoul.
Jeff Seldin, National Security Correspondent, and Brian Padden contributed to this report.
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