Panic grips South Korean metropolis after ballistic missile crashes into floor

A failed ballistic missile launch sparked panic in a often quiet South Korean metropolis after it crashed into the bottom.

South Korea fires a missile throughout a joint live-fire train. (Photo: AFP)

A failed ballistic missile launch sparked panic in a often quiet South Korean metropolis after it crashed into the bottom and triggered an enormous hearth, officers stated Wednesday.

Security allies Seoul and Washington have staged a number of joint drills, together with bombing runs and missile launches, in response to North Korea firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday.

The South Korean navy fired a Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missile late Tuesday however it malfunctioned and crashed shortly after launch.

ALSO READ | North Korea blames ‘alien issues’ close to South Korea border for Covid outbreak

The missile’s propellant caught hearth however its warhead didn’t detonate, a South Korean navy official informed the Yonhap information company.

Viral social media footage — which AFP couldn’t confirm — confirmed an orange ball of flames at an space customers stated was close to an air drive base near Gangneung on the nation’s east coast.

“Many frantic residents called the city hall,” an official on the Gangneung City Hall informed AFP.

“At first we didn’t know what was going on because we didn’t receive any notice from the military about such training,” she added, talking on situation of anonymity.

South and North Korea stay technically at battle after the 1950-53 Korean War resulted in an armistice reasonably than a peace treaty.

Armed conflicts between the 2 neighbours are uncommon, however the missile crash made some residents imagine that battle had damaged out.

“I thought there was a war but it turns out to be a military training,” stated one consumer on Twitter.

“What took them so long to confirm? If there is a war, we will probably find out about it the next day,” one other consumer tweeted.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated there have been no reported casualties and that it was wanting into the reason for the crash.

— ENDS —