Hundreds of people in Japan’s capital Monday participated in an evacuation drill meant to simulate the scenario of an incoming North Korean ballistic missile.
A voice over a loudspeaker at an amusement park told the participants, “We have information that a missile launch has occurred. Please evacuate calmly inside a building or underground.” Media reports say that people calmly walked to shelters.
Similar drills were held around the country last year, but the drill in the amusement park was the first to be held in the capital.
North Korea has its neighbors on edge with its missile and nuclear testing. The isolated country has flown missiles over Japan and into the sea near Japan, as part of its missile testing program.
Residents in earthquake-prone Japan are use to drills for natural disasters. Some residents, however, objected to the drill on Monday.
Ikie Kamioka, a 77-year-old former primary school teacher demonstrated against the drill. “I don’t want to participate in such a drill and I am against it, as it is a way to promote a war,” she told the French News Agency (AFP). “You won’t survive if a war occurs. A nuclear war would devastate everything.”
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