Thursday, April 13, 2023.

It's just before 8am.

And across the northern Japanese island, Hokkaido, people are waking up.

They're getting ready for work and bundling their kids off to school.

When suddenly, they hear the whale of sirens.

Loudspeakers in the street play messages urging people to take cover.

Trains screech to a halt.

Alerts blare from TVs and radios and ping from cell phones.

They're telling people to stay inside or get to an underground shelter.

They're also warning them to watch out for debris falling from the sky.

The source of the panic is a ballistic missile.

Launched just moments before from North Korea.

And it's now hurtling toward Japan.

Kim Jong-un is carrying out yet another weapons test.

Minutes later, the alert stopped.

The danger has passed.

The rocket has been detected,

lending in the sea between North Korea and Japan.

No one has been hurt.

But for many people in Japan, this incident is yet another terrifying reminder

of the deadly proximity of Kim's missiles.

Meanwhile, back in North Korea, officials are celebrating.

...