FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano has ordered the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to continue to closely monitor the situation in the Korean Peninsula and to ensure that Filipinos living in Japan are safe.

Cayetano renewed the directive after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired Tuesday, August 29, a ballistic missile that flew over Japanese airspace.

"I wish to assure our kababayans in Japan that our Embassy in Tokyo and our Consulate General in Osaka are prepared to assist them should it be necessary," he said in a statement.

There are about 242,000 Filipinos living and working in Japan.

This was the second time that DPRK fired a missile over Japanese airspace. The first missile launch was in 1998.

Cayetano joined the other countries in asking the DPRK to halt "these dangerous and provocative actions, which heighten tensions, increase instability and the risk of miscalculation, and could possibly endanger lives."

He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Philippines, as this year's Asean chair, remain committed to peaceful resolutions of conflict.

"While we are ready to do our part, provocations such as this latest missile launch should stop to help us put in place an environment that would be conducive for dialogue," he said.

DPRK launched the missile that flew over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. The missile, which was launched at 5 a.m. Philippine time, set off warnings for people to take emergency shelter. (SDR/SunStar Philippines)