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'Brendan, we have to get out of here': Irishman in Japan recalls panic over missile alert

North Korea sent a ballistic missile over Japan as part of tests.

Updated 8.45pm

AN IRISHMAN LIVING in Japan has spoken about his shock at North Korea’s ballistic missile test, which saw a missile land in the Sea of Japan yesterday.

Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1′s Drivetime, Brendan Walsh – who lives on Japan’s Hokkaido Island – recalled receiving an emergency alert from the Japanese government which advised people to take cover.

“You get an alert from the government that says in English ‘emergency alert’ and then everything else is in Japanese.

“We get an emergency alert at two minutes past six and I just saw, trying my best to translate from Japanese, it looks like North Korea has launched a missile towards us.”

NK Brendan Walsh / Twitter Brendan Walsh / Twitter / Twitter

Walsh, from Maynooth in Co Kildare, said he initially thought the government was being over-cautious.

“I just assumed we were just a bit too close for comfort because we’re all aware that they often launch, the North Koreans launch missiles and they end up in the Sea of Japan quite regularly and we’re never too concerned about it. It’s a bit strange when it happens but we’re never concerned, so I assumed it was something like this.

So about two minutes later the next door neighbour calls in and says, ‘Brendan, we have to get out of here … That alert, it says that the North Koreans have launched a missile towards us’.

Walsh said he and his neighbour went to a nearby subway station because it’s underground.

South Korea North Korea Missiles People watch a TV screen showing file footage of a North Korean missile launch in Seoul, South Korea AP / PA Images AP / PA Images / PA Images

He said his immediate concern was for his girlfriend, who’s in hospital.

“For me, my first concern was I need to get to my girlfriend because she’s a little bit ill at the moment…

“All I’m thinking is, she’s in hospital, she’s on the fourth floor, she’s got a drip in her arm, she’s quite weak, she can barely sit up straight at the moment, so are they just going to leave her there and run for it themselves?

“And that was the thought going through my head – that I need to get her and I need to get her out of the hospital.”

Walsh said he didn’t know why North Korea would “go near” Hokkaido, an island only slightly smaller than Ireland.

‘Deeply worried’

Earlier today, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said he was “deeply worried” about the ballistic missile test.

He condemned North Korea for “raising tensions and presenting a real threat to peace and security in the entire North East Asia region and beyond”.

It is an unacceptable and provocative violation of the DPRK’s international obligations not to conduct such tests and I unreservedly condemn such actions.

The actions of North Korea, officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), have been denounced by leaders in the region and around the world, with Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, calling the test a “an unprecedented, serious and grave threat”.

7429 Brexit Issues Simon Coveney_90520709 Coveney called for North Korea to abandon its programmes to test missiles and nuclear capabilities Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

US President Donald Trump was famously vocal about North Korea’s actions in the run up to this latest test, controversially threatening to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea if it endangered his country.

He said today that “all options are on the table” after the latest test.

The EU has also denounced the launch, calling it a “serious threat” to the region.

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said that she was “outraged” by the launch.

Coveney called for North Korea to abandon its programmes to develop such ballistic missiles, as well as nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

In addition to the grave threat to lasting peace in the region, DPRK’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes absorb scarce resources, a detrimental impact on the lives of the North Korean people.

Drought in North Korea is currently threatening a famine in the country that experienced a devastating famine in the mid-1990s that estimates say killed as many as one million people.

The UN security council passed a new round of sanctions against the country earlier this month, imposing a ban on exports that seek to deprive it of $1 billion (about €850 million) in annual revenue.

“We reaffirm Ireland’s support for the international sanctions regime against North Korea, and urge the authorities in Pyongyang to re-engage with the Six Party Talks, immediately and without pre-conditions,” Coveney said.

- Additional reporting by Órla Ryan and © AFP 2017

Read: ‘Missile passing. Missile passing’: Japanese awake to text message warnings of North Korea missile >

Read: North Korea launches missile that flies over Japan >

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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute shrew
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    May 27th 2013, 7:07 AM

    Who buys counterfeit DVDs or CDs anymore?

    69
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    Mute Andy Cleary
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    May 27th 2013, 9:42 AM

    People that have crap broadband.

    28
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    Mute Ciarán Kenny
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    May 27th 2013, 8:02 AM

    Who buys counterfeit stethoscopes?! Pictured to the right in the article.

    67
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    Mute Ronan Stokes
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    May 27th 2013, 8:52 AM

    Quacks.

    24
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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    May 27th 2013, 9:32 AM

    No counterfeit Government seized?

    7
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    Mute Alan McNamara
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    May 27th 2013, 12:40 PM

    Doctor Nick Riviera

    21
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    Mute JJ Rossi
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    May 28th 2013, 12:06 AM

    Doctors probably, it’s not just simple medical equipment like that either, things like dentists tools and even X-ray machines are made by counterfeiters. The latter giving hundreds of times more radiation than the proper machine.

    1
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    Mute John Campbell
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    May 27th 2013, 7:10 AM

    Sure haven’t we got counterfeit government? What’s new?

    46
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    Mute Tim Kennedy
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    May 27th 2013, 7:17 AM

    Yawn

    40
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    Mute Continent Simian
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    May 27th 2013, 7:31 AM

    Yer ma is counterfeit.

    57
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    Mute OU812
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    May 27th 2013, 7:05 AM

    There’s counterfeit condoms (Durex) on the streets which, while sounding funny, is very worrying.

    Apparently porous & lubricated with vegetable oil.

    44
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    Mute Ciaran O HUrmoltaigh
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    May 27th 2013, 9:03 AM

    You would have to be hard up to have to resort to buying those.

    34
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    Mute Galwaybay
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    May 27th 2013, 6:55 AM

    How many of these goods were stolen back from revenue by the criminals like what happen in Dundalk sat night.

    39
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    Mute sean
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    May 27th 2013, 8:10 AM

    what happened in dundalk ?

    9
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    Mute Galwaybay
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    May 27th 2013, 8:20 AM

    Well according to rte news laundered diesel was seized during the week. Apparently the criminal broke in an army barracks where it was being stored and stole the tanker back with all the diesel still on board

    18
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    Mute Eileen Dover
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    May 27th 2013, 8:35 AM

    Took some balls to carry this out, just read it on the news.

    13
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    Mute sean
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    May 27th 2013, 9:07 AM

    dundalk is a great place to live ….you gotta love Da-town :)

    15
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    Mute Eamonn Bolger
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    May 27th 2013, 9:33 AM

    That is a complete and utter joke. After all that effort?

    5
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    Mute sean
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    May 27th 2013, 12:12 PM

    must be worth a lot of Doe , otherwise they wouldn’t have bothered going to the hassle of robbing it back ,
    from a defence forces barracks(they broke down the get , walked in took the truck and drove out) ………… says alot about the defence forces really

    11
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    Mute Gerard
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    May 27th 2013, 12:18 PM

    Did they not hop the wall, start the lorry and then drive through the gate? Hate to be the soldiers on security detail when this happened?

    7
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    Mute Martin St John
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    May 27th 2013, 4:27 PM

    Geard.. Ever heard of ‘back-handers? Or , turn a blind eye !!

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    Mute Gerard
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    May 27th 2013, 5:05 PM

    Martin, I know the barracks well. There’s CCTV covering the ground. They didn’t just walk in the front gate!

    1
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    Mute James Lyons
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    May 27th 2013, 9:18 AM

    I’m just waiting for this picture to appear in my timeline with “share this photo to be in with a chance of winning all these prizes”

    34
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    Mute Dylan Ryan
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    May 27th 2013, 1:35 PM

    Every thing is made in China……..Apart from babies, they’re made in the VaChina

    17
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    Mute CAPT. ADEBAYO FLYNN
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    May 27th 2013, 9:19 AM

    I sell counterfeit counterfeits of 90′s boy band calendars. I’m doing PRETTY good.

    14
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    Mute Mumble Mumble
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    May 27th 2013, 10:55 AM

    The Chinese; a great bunch of lads.

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    Mute Erica Corcoran
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    May 27th 2013, 8:58 AM

    I’ve heard some people report that legitimate Chinese manufactured mobile phones are being seized as counterfeit goods.

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    Mute Andrew Matheson
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    May 27th 2013, 1:10 PM

    Is Alan shatter’s Rolex there too??

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    Mute tax slave
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    May 27th 2013, 9:03 AM

    I bought a Nokia phone once from a shop . Only after i got home did i notice the the name was spelled different and was a peace of crap. Made in China

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    Mute Randy Fisher
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    May 27th 2013, 9:08 AM

    Everything is made in China now

    6
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    Mute sean
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    May 27th 2013, 12:13 PM

    the more the ordinary people get ripped off buy the gov ,
    the more they will rely on the black market .

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    Mute Kerry Blake
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    May 27th 2013, 10:36 AM

    What happened to my comment?

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    Mute JJ Rossi
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    May 28th 2013, 12:08 AM

    Nothing, there it is ^

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