HI-EMA assures Hawaii of no threat from North Korean missile launch

Nearly five years after state emergency officials warned Hawaii about a nonexistent missile attack, causing widespread panic here, they sent out a message on social media Monday about another missile launch, only this time it was to reassure residents there was no threat to the islands.

North Korea had shot a missile over Japan, prompting the Japanese government to broadcast an alert to its citizens. The Japanese prime minister’s office said the missile splashed down in waters to the east of Japan.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted at 12:55 p.m. Monday, “No threat to Hawai‘i: News reports indicate a ballistic missile was launched from North Korea toward Japan, and has now fallen into the Pacific Ocean. Authorities in Japan alerted the public and advised they take shelter. At this time NO threat to Hawai‘i is anticipated.”

Asked about the tweet afterward, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Adam Weintraub said it intended to help prevent confusion and concern.

“Given the backdrop of the false missile alert back in 2018, HI-EMA was aware that a report of a missile being fired by North Korea at an unknown target in the Pacific could produce a lot of anxiety here in Hawaii. That’s especially the case when an incident far away gets circulated on social media, which sometimes relies on unconfirmed sources or even rumors.

“With that situation, we wanted to make sure that there was an official information source providing credible reports to the public as quickly as possible to prevent any misinformation from getting a foothold and spreading. As soon as it became clear from reliable sources that there was no threat to Hawaii from the launch, we said so, and explained the source of that information — NHK news reports and a statement by a Japanese government official,” Weintraub said.

On Jan. 13, 2018, HI-EMA made international news after it mistakenly sent a false missile alert to cellphones across the state, prompting confusion and panic until the error was officially corrected 38 minutes later. The false alarm came at a time when Kim Jong Un was threatening the United States with his nation’s nuclear missile capabilities.

HI-EMA’s message drew a fairly strong response Monday, with one person tweeting that it was bad timing considering the monthly siren test and North Korea’s antics.

Weintraub conceded the tweet found some blowback.

“We weren’t looking to be triggering,” he said. “We just wanted to get the right information out there.”