As tensions on the Korean peninsula rise Seoul has released a video of a North Korean missile test that went wrong. Pyongyang had claimed that the missile test was successful. In the video the missile is seen spiralling out of control, even for South Korea it is a rare instance of publicly releasing surveillance footage to quash North Korea’s claim of a successful test.
Footage filmed by a thermal observation device with South Korean frontline units showed a projectile spiralling out of control on an irregular flight path, then disintegrating.
The South Korean military assessed that “instability during flight” led to the missile’s explosion, it said in a statement on Friday, calling North Korea’s claims of success as “deception and exaggeration to cover up the failure”.
North Korean state media had said that Pyongyang successfully conducted an important test on Wednesday aimed at developing missiles able to deploy multiple warheads, a claim rejected by South Korea.
North Korea’s missile administration used the first-stage engine of a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile to test separation and guidance of multiple warheads, according to the North’s official KCNA news agency.
South Korea’s military said it had detected signs of missile launch preparations early on Wednesday and was watching as the rocket was launched.
In April, Pyongyang said it had tested a new solid-fuel hypersonic missile with intermediate range, part of an intensifying race for the next generation of long-range rockets hard to track and intercept.
Tensions have risen in the recent past on the Korean peninsula. This has been evident, especially after Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK/North Korea) failed attempt to put their second spy satellite in orbit. Many thought that the launch was a cover for an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) launch. The rocket blew up soon after launch. Due to the palpable rising tensions, the United States Air Force (USAF) conducted its first-ever bombing exercise over the peninsula in over seven years. In the comprehensive aerial exercise the USAF flew bombers from its base in Guam, flying for over 3,200 km one way, roughly the length of India. The Americans, South Koreans and the Japanese will also hold joint exercises later this year in order to prepare for any geopolitical eventuality in the region.
Team Bharat Shakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
