Japan's national broadcaster issues false North Korea missile alert... just days after Hawaii residents sent into panic by emergency message

Japan's national broadcaster NHK issued a false alarm about a North Korean missile launch just three days after Hawaii was sent into panic over a similar alert.

The news service corrected the error within minutes, messages on NHK social media showed.

The phone app message said, according to CNN: "NHK news alert. North Korea likely to have launched missile. The government J alert: evacuate inside the building or underground. "

But the broadcaster quickly retracted the statement, saying the alert was issued in error.

It added in a tweet, which is translated here: "At around 6.55pm we reported on the NHS news siteand the NHS news disaster prevention app that 'North Korean missile launch pattern' was incorrectly issued. J alert has not appeared. I must sincerely apologise."

It was not immediately clear what caused the false alarm on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The mistake came just days after locals and tourists were left terrified as an alert on their phones warned them of a ballistic missile inbound to Hawaii.

The "emergency alert" sent to people across the US island state on Saturday read: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

Sirens also sounded across the island, according to claims on social media.

A follow up alert was sent to phones 38 minutes after the initial message confirming that it was a false alarm.

The error was blamed on an employee who "pushed the wrong button", according to reports.