Kim's enemies were embarrassed: South Korea fired a missile that landed on its territory
South Korea's military apologized yesterday for causing public panic by failing to launch a missile during a joint exercise with the US military in response to North Korea's ballistic missile launch a day earlier.
Missile forces under the command of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday launched a missile that flew over Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean after a flight of 4.600 km.
It was Kim's first ballistic missile launch in five years, and South Korean and US troops immediately launched several missiles into the sea in joint maneuvers.
The US missiles were successfully fired, but a South Korean Hyunmu-2 missile failed shortly after launch and crashed near Kangung, an east coast city of more than 200.000 residents. Fortunately, the warhead did not explode, but only the rocket fuel ignited, which was enough to cause chaos in the city.
South Korea's military headquarters said there were no casualties and that they were investigating the cause of the failed launch.