Japanese broadcaster NHK issues false alert of North Korean missile

Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Japan's public broadcaster NHK issued a false warning on Tuesday for residents to take cover from a ballistic missile launched from North Korea.

NHK sent out a news alert on its website and apps at 6:55 p.m., saying "North Korea likely to have launched a missile" and also implied that Japan's emergency warning system was activated and urged people to seek shelter.

NHK said within 10 minutes the alert was a mistake.

The public broadcaster later issued an apology, saying there were "no reports of problems caused by the mistake" and that a "switching error" was to blame.

This comes days after Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency mistakenly sent a warning alert to residents about an incoming ballistic missile Saturday.

Cellphones across the state received the message ""BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

The emergency worker who mistakenly caused the ballistic missile alert was reassigned pending an internal investigation.

Ajit Pai, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission chairman, said on Sunday that Hawaii didn't have "reasonable" safeguards in place to prevent erroneous alerts like the one Saturday.