In this photo provided by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, an Army missile is fired during a joint US-South Korean military exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. year 2022.
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In this photo provided by South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, an Army missile is fired during a joint US-South Korean military exercise at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Wednesday, Oct. year 2022.
AP
SEOUL, South Korea — A malfunctioning South Korean ballistic missile exploded as it plunged to the ground Wednesday during a live-fire exercise with the United States, in retaliation for North Korea. Successful launch A day earlier the weapon flew over Japan and had range to strike the US territory of Guam.
The explosion and subsequent fire left residents of the coastal city of Gangneung panicking and confused, already unsettled by the increasingly provocative weapons tests of rival North Korea. Their concern that it could be a North Korean attack only increased as the military and government officials offered no explanation for the blast for hours.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said there were no reports of injuries from the explosion, which involved a short-range Hyumoo-2 missile that crashed inside an air base on the outskirts of the city. It said the crash did not affect any civilian facilities.
Kwon Seong-dong, a ruling party lawmaker representing Gangneung, wrote on Facebook that a “weapon system operated with taxpayers’ blood like our blood ends up threatening the people of us” and called on the military to thoroughly investigate the missile failure. He also criticized the military for failing to issue notice of the defeat while maintaining a media embargo on the joint exercises.
“It was an irresponsible response,” Kwon wrote. “They don’t even have an official press release yet.”
The South Korean military admitted the incident occurred hours after internet users raised the alarm about the explosion and posted video on social media showing an orange fireball emerging from an area it described as near the military base. air force. They said they were investigating what caused the “unusual flight” of the rocket.
Officials at Gangneung’s fire department and city hall said emergency workers were dispatched to the airbase and a nearby army base in response to calls about a possible explosion. occurred, but was sent back by military officials.
The US and South Korean militaries are conducting joint exercises to demonstrate their ability to thwart a North Korean attack on the South. During Tuesday’s drills, they conducted bombings with F-15 attack jets using precision ammunition and launched two missiles, each belonging to the Army Tactical Missile System.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is scheduled to return to waters east of South Korea on Wednesday to demonstrate the allies’ “steadfast will” in countering the North Korea’s continued provocations and threats. The aircraft carrier was part of exercises last week with South Korea and Japan.
The homegrown Hyumoo-2 is key to South Korea’s pre-emptive and retaliatory strike strategies against North Korea. Some versions of the missile are similar to the Russian-designed Iskander missile, which is part of North Korea’s arsenal.
North Korea’s successful launch of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile hours before the drills was its most provocative weapons show since 2017 and its fifth weapons test in 10 days.
That missile has a range capable of hitting Guam, home to one of the largest US military installations in Asia. North Korea also tested a missile in 2017 capable of hitting the continental United States.
North Korea has fired nearly 40 ballistic missiles in about 20 different launch events this year, exploiting Russia’s war with Ukraine and leading to deep divisions in the United Nations Security Council aimed at accelerating the process. weapons development without incurring additional sanctions.
Its purpose is to develop a complete nuclear arsenal capable of threatening the US mainland and its allies while being recognized as a nuclear state and winning concessions from those countries. .
The United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland have called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council over North Korea’s latest launch. The open meeting has been scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday.
