Missile misfires, creates fireball on golf course

Defense

Published: 05 Oct. 2022, 18:42

Missile misfires, creates fireball on golf course

A photo uploaded to social media late Tuesday night by residents close to the 18th Fighter Wing Air Base in Gangneung, Gangwon shows a fire caused by a Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missile crashing shortly after being launched. [YONHAP]

A Hyunmoo-2 short-range ballistic missile malfunctioned and crashed shortly after being launched from a South Korean military base late Tuesday night during a joint drill by South Korea and the United States, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

The drill was a response to North Korea’s launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Tuesday morning.

In its initial 7 a.m. press release, the JCS said that South Korea and the United States each launched two U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System (Atacms) surface-to-surface missiles beginning at 12:50 a.m. on Wednesday, which accurately hit mock targets and demonstrated the allies’ capability to deter further provocations.

The press release did not specify the exact location of the drills.

Military vehicles arrive Wednesday to clear up debris from the site where a Hyunmoo-2 missile crash landed the previous night. [NEWS1]

The press release made no mention of a South Korean-made Hyunmoo-2 missile fired more than an hour earlier, which crashed almost immediately after its launch.

Residents around the eastern coastal city of Gangneung, Gangwon, reported a fire and a loud explosion close to the location of the 18th Fighter Wing Air Base at around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night. Reports of the joint drill were embargoed until 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Images uploaded to social media by local residents showed an orange fireball.

The South Korean military was forced to issue a clarification about the Hyunmoo-2’s crash-landing after reports of the explosion spread.

“Immediately after its launch, the missile flew inland instead of toward the sea and abnormally landed on a golf course on the base at a location approximately 700 meters (765 yards) from a civilian residential area,” said a military official who spoke to the JoongAng Ilbo on condition of anonymity, implying the missile’s trajectory had been intended for the East Sea.

“The flames (the residents saw) were not from the warhead exploding, but rather from the propellant burning,” he added. “There was no damage to civilians nearby as the missile crashed within the base immediately after the launch.”

He acknowledged the panic caused by the missile’s crash, noting that local residents “must have been taken very much by surprise.”

Another unnamed military official told the JoongAng Ilbo that safety precautions at the site ensured the Atacms drill could take place even after the crash.

“Transporter erector launchers (TELs) were deployed at locations far from each other, so after handling the accident, we conducted a safety inspection and carried on with the Atacms firing drill,” he said.

The explosion led to frantic phone calls by residents to local government authorities, according to an official at the Gangneung City Hall who spoke on condition of anonymity to Agence-France Presse.

“At first we didn’t know what was going on because we didn’t receive any notice from the military about such an exercise,” she added.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]