'Missile launch, take cover': Japan's terrifying wake-up call

Pedestrians in Tokyo walk past a television screen broadcasting a news report showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on September 15, 2017, following a North Korean missile test that passed over Japan. - AFP

Tokyo (AFP) - "Missile launch! Missile launch! A missile appears to have been launched from North Korea. Take cover in a building or underground."

To the accompaniment of blaring sirens and emergency phone alerts, that was the terrifying loudspeaker message that jolted millions of Japanese awake in the early hours as North Korea blasted its second missile over the country in less than a month.