North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Wednesday, but the missile exploded in the air, South Korea’s military said, Seoul’s military said, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile was launched from an area in or around Pyongyang at around 5:30 a.m. (2030 Tuesday GMT), and the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US are conducting a detailed analysis.
The JCS said the military is considering the possibility of a hypersonic missile launch powered by solid propellants, noting that the missile exploded in midair over waters off the North’s east coast.
Solid-fuel missiles are considered to be harder to detect ahead of a launch compared with liquid-fuel ones as they require less preparation procedures, such as the injection of fuel.
The launch came after the North slammed the arrival in South Korea of the US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and warned of taking “overwhelming and new” deterrence measures against what it c
alled a “provocative” act.
The aircraft carrier arrived in Busan, 320 km southeast of Seoul, on Saturday ahead of a trilateral exercise with South Korea and Japan.
The missile launch also came after the North signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty with Russia during a summit last week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which includes a pledge for the two countries to come to each other’s aid if attacked.
Source: Kuwait News Agency