(Bloomberg) -- Amid heightened tensions between North Korea and the U.S., Japan’s national broadcaster NHK issued an alert saying the Asian nation had launched a missile -- only to retract it in error minutes later.

The alert, which NHK says was a mistaken issuance of a practice text, warned that a North Korean missile had fallen 2,000 kilometers east of Hokkaido -- a course which, had it been real, would have taken it over Japanese territory similar to North Korea’s greatest provocations in the summer of 2017.

The mistaken alert used language similar to the September 2017 launch of an intermediate-range missile, which flew over Japan in a test demonstrating North Korea’s ability to hit U.S. forces in Guam.

The incident is at least the second time in as many years that NHK has issued a false alert on North Korea, following a similar incident in January 2018. Today’s alert comes as geopolitical watchers are on edge for a possible intercontinental ballistic missile launch, with North Korea suggesting it would use the end-of-year holiday season to deliver a “Christmas gift” to the U.S. after demanding Washington make additional concessions as part of long-stalled nuclear talks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gearoid Reidy in Tokyo at greidy1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gearoid Reidy at greidy1@bloomberg.net, Kana Nishizawa

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