The missile crashed into a South Korean airbase near the northeastern city of Gangneung, triggering panic among local residents.
A South Korean ballistic missile crashed into the ground and exploded in the outskirts of the northeastern city of Gangneung in a failed launch on Tuesday night, as the country’s military conducted joint fire drills with the U.S. in response to a provocative North Korean missile launch that flew over Japan before crashing into the Pacific earlier this week.
South Korea’s principal opposition party, the Democratic Party, also heavily criticized President Yoon Suk-yeol’s government, accusing it of creating a “security vacuum.” Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Byung-joo—a retired four-star South Korean Army general—told the press: “It’s a complete operation failure and there is a report that the military blocked fire officers dispatched to the scene from extinguishing the fire,” Yonhap reported.
