The Federal Aviation Administration stopped every plane from taking off or landing at all West Coast airports for seven minutes after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea off Japan.  

Monday’s incident, known as a full ground stop, was confirmed by officials at San Diego Airport. No explanation was given, but it happened around the same time as the North Korean missile launch, which is not believed to have struck any known target.

The stop only lasted for seven minutes, according to officials at San Diego International Airport.

A spokesperson for the airport said they got the instruction of a national ground stop around 2:30 p.m. pacific time (5:30 p.m. eastern). 

‘We really don’t have any more details,’ Sabrina LoPiccolo said, adding that no reason was given for the stop.  

The FAA has not responded to DailyMail.com’s request for comment as of Tuesday morning.

Under an FAA ground stop, flights scheduled to land at an airport are forced to stay at their departure points. 

Ground stops can be specific to airports or an entire region and are related to either weather, equipment outages or extreme events.  

Both South Korea and Japan’s military said North Korea launched a missile early Tuesday morning local time, the second such launch by the hermit kingdom in under a week.   

No details are available of how far the projectile flew and no details have been made public of the launch.

Both the United States and South Korean militaries are investigating, while Guam’s office of homeland security said they were monitoring the launch but said there was no threat to the American territory in the south pacific.

North Korea previously gloated that it successfully launched a hypersonic missile last week.

Hypersonic weapons are able to fly at speeds in excess of five times the speed of sound, better known as Mach 5.  

South Korea claimed the projectile was a ballistic missile and were unsure of where the north had gotten such technology.  

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un said prior to the launch at a key political gathering that he would boost the nation’s military might.

Kim had famously tried to make nice with ex-President Donald Trump in an attempt to ease sanctions in exchange for giving up nuclear power.  

North Korea has rejected offers to meet with the Biden administration in its first year, citing sanctions and joint military drills by United States and South Korean forces.

HD Editor’s Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?

Amir Tsarfati reporting on the North Korea missile launch via Telegram, wrote:

The North Korean media announced that the ruler, Kim Jong-un, was present at the launch of the supersonic missile yesterday, which was intended to “finally confirm all the technical characteristics of the system”. According to the announcement, the warhead performed a “strong turning maneuver” of 240 km and hit the target at a distance of a thousand km.

According to Fox News, “China and Russia also reportedly completed successful hypersonic weapons tests, involving a mix of hypersonic vehicles and missiles capabilities.”

In October it was revealed that during the summer the Chinese tested a “nuclear-capable hypersonic missile,” a move that reportedly came as a surprise the United States.

“The military balance in the Indo-Pacific is becoming more unfavorable for the United States and our allies,” Admiral Philip Davidson, head of Indo-Pacific command warned in October. “With this imbalance, we are accumulating risk that may embolden China to unilaterally change the status quo before our forces may be able to deliver an effective response.”

In Matthew 24, the disciples ask Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming?” Jesus’s response is a detailed description of the condition of the world and what it will look like in the last days before His return. Wars and rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, these being the beginning of sorrows.

In Luke 21:25, Jesus describes that “upon the earth” there will be “Distress of Nations with Perplexity.“

These things will be greatly increased and primarily take place during the seven-year Tribulation (from which the church is absent). However, with the current global state of turmoil amongst the nations, we can’t help but recognize the distress of nations Jesus describes in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, rising in our world today.