North Korea fires two ballistic missiles, one may have fallen to ground | Gun News

The latest launches come as the United States, Japan and South Korea conclude three days of military exercises dubbed “Freedom Edge.”

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles and the second may have failed and exploded, dropping debris inside the country, the South Korean military said.

Monday's launches come a day after Pyongyang vowed “offensive and overwhelming” responses to new military exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles were launched 10 minutes apart in a northeasterly direction from the city of Jangyon in southeastern North Korea.

The military said the first missile flew 600 kilometers (370 miles) and the second 120 kilometers (75 miles), but did not say where they landed. North Korea typically conducts missile tests toward its eastern waters, but the second missile's flight distance was too short to reach that distance.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-joon later said in a briefing that there appeared to have been problems with the second missile and that if it had exploded, its debris would probably have scattered on the ground.

South Korean media, citing unidentified South Korean military sources, said it was very likely that the second missile crashed in an interior area of ​​North Korea, while the first landed in the waters off the coast of the eastern city of Chongjin.

Monday's launches were the first from North Korea in five days and came as the United States, South Korea and Japan ended their “Freedom Edge” exercises, new multi-domain trilateral military exercises.

Pyongyang generally views the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion or as evidence of the two countries' hostility.

“In North Korean politics and military policy, the best defense is often a good offense,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Women's University in Seoul, said in emailed comments. “Pyongyang is also determined not to appear weak as South Korea conducts defense exercises with Japan and the United States. »

Last Wednesday, North Korea launched what it called a multiple-warhead missile, the first known test of an advanced weapon under development designed to defeat U.S. and South Korean missile defenses, though South Korea disputed the claim. It said Pyongyang launched what appeared to be a hypersonic missile, but it went out of control and exploded.

North Korea began a key ruling party meeting on Friday to determine what it called “important and immediate issues” related to work to further strengthen Korean-style socialism. Observers said the meeting continued Monday.