The government of South Korea confirmed on Wednesday that a short-range missile fired in an attempted response to North Korea flying its own projectile over Japan this week crashed into a local golf course, causing panic among South Korean civilians.
Pyongyang launched what American and South Korean officials believe to be a medium-range missile on Tuesday that flew over Aomori prefecture, Japan, causing alarm in that northern region and the neighboring island of Hokkaido. At press time, the repressive communist regime has yet to publicly comment on the missile launch or mention it in state-controlled media, meaning most North Koreans have no way of knowing the launch happened.
The launch occurred less than a week after American Vice President Kamala Harris visited the “Demilitarized Zone” (DMZ), the border between the two Koreas. During the visit, Harris praised the “strong and enduring … alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” baffling her South Korean hosts.
North Korea and the United States are technically in a state of war, as no peace treaty has been signed in the 70-year-old Korean War conflict. Active hostilities in the Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice agreement, but no surrender on either side. North Korea and China make up the parties in conflict against South Korea and America.
South Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo reported on Wednesday that the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) acknowledged that a Hyunmoo-2 short-range missile, launched as part of a response to North Korea, made an “abnormal” flight that resulted in it crashing.
“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,” an anonymous military official told the newspaper. “The flames (the residents saw) were not from the warhead exploding, but rather from the propellant burning.”
The official confirmed that the government is not aware of any injuries or damage to civilians in the vicinity of the launch.
Yonhap, another South Korean news service, reported that both the American and South Korean militaries fired four missiles in response to the North Korean display on Tuesday. All were reportedly “ground-to-ground” short-range missiles aimed at the Sea of Japan. Another anonymous South Korean official told Yonhap that the failed missile landed “just 700 meters,” less than half a mile, from the closest residence.
Initially, the South Korean military confirmed the launch of the four successful missiles in an official press release, without mentioning the golf course incident, prompting panic among locals. Civilians shared videos on social media of the crash, promping anonymous officials to clarify in statements to some of the country’s top news outlets.
North Korea’s missile launch on Tuesday was the first of its kind, threatening Japan, since 2017. In the north of Japan, where civilians received incoming missile alerts, residents reported feeling uncertainty and fear until the government confirmed that the threat had passed.
“Immediately after the launch, the Japanese government issued the J-Alert to residents in Hokkaido, Aomori and Tokyo’s islands for the first time since September 2017, and the alarm sound soon rang out over the streets,” Japan’s Asahi Shimbun reported on Tuesday. “The alert is issued anytime a missile is launched that could reach Japan’s territory or pass over the country to warn the public of danger and urge them to evacuate to safety.”
The newspaper noted that local governments in Tokyo also issued alerts, despite being significantly to the south of the missile – prompting panic as residents received alerts stating only, “North Korea launched a missile.”
The missile is believed to have landed in international waters after crossing Japan, causing no damage.
North Korean officials have yet to confirm or in any way acknowledge the missile launch. Pyongyang has, however, in recent months increased belligerent rhetoric and aggressively defended its illegal nuclear weapons program, going as far as to legally ban denuclearization a month ago.
At the United Nations General Assembly last month, North Korea’s top diplomat at the venue Kim Song announced that Pyongyang would continue to build nuclear weapons and had no interest in stopping.
“In direct proportion to the increase of the hostile policy and military blackmail by the U.S. against us, our strength is bound to be built up continuously to contain them,” Kim Song said. “The U.S. compelled the DPRK [North Korea] to adopt a law on the policy of nuclear forces in defiance of the U.S. hostility.”
“The U.S. should clearly understand that its heinous hostile policy against the DPRK over the past 30 years has just brought about today’s reality and ask and answer itself and ponder over how far it would lead this situation in the future,” Kim said, repeating the regime’s line that North Korea needs nuclear weapons because of the alleged threat posed by the United States.