South Korea’s military has released an apology after a missile failed to launch during a joint drill with the United States, causing alarm among residents in the city of Gangneung. The residents reported hearing an explosion and witnessing a fire. The military didn’t acknowledge the incident until seven hours later, but stated that there were no casualties.
The launch and joint drill with the United States was in response to North Korea firing a missile over Japan early on Tuesday. This was the first time Pyongyang has flown a missile over Japan since 2017. The missile launch prompted a show of force from the US, Japan and South Korea who all completed military drills shortly after. Washington and Seoul both also fired volleys of missiles into the East Sea, located between the Korean peninsula and Japan. The South Korean military later confirmed one of the missiles fired failed soon after launch and crashed, but that it was separate to the missiles launched with the US. The warhead on the missile did not explode in the accident. North Korea’s missile launch was the fifth it has carried out in a week.
Read More: South Korea military apologizes after failed missile launch sparks alarm
