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The photo was taken hours after Pyongyang sent a new balloon full of waste to South Korea, causing a suspension of departures and arrivals at Incheon Airport near Seoul.
The missile was launched from North Korean territory at around 5:30 a.m. (8:30 p.m. GMT Tuesday) and South Korean and U.S. BroadCast Unitedligence agencies have since been conducting a detailed analysis of the launch, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
Pyongyang appeared to have conducted a test launch of a hypersonic missile, but it failed when it exploded after flying about 250 kilometers, according to a Joint Chiefs of Staff official.
The Joint CS official added that the craft appeared to be emitting an unusual amount of smoke, raising the possibility of a combustion problem. The missile was likely powered by solid fuel, according to the same source.
Japan also confirmed the launch, with its coast guard saying the missile eventually fell into the Sea of Japan.
North Korea’s last missile launch dates back to May 30, when Seoul accused Pyongyang of launching about 10 short-range ballistic missiles.
A Pentagon report released last month confirmed analysts’ belief that North Korea was increasing missile production to supply Russia as part of its war in Ukraine.
Wednesday’s launch comes amid heightened cross-border tensions, with North Korea recently increasing the number of trash-laden balloons it sends into South Korean territory.
New Balloons from the North
On Monday and again on Tuesday, Pyongyang launched hundreds of balloons filled with trash toward the inter-Korean border.
According to the South Korean military’s analysis, the balloons carried “mainly waste paper” and posed no danger to the public.
One of the latest batch of North Korean aerostats crashed into a gate at Incheon International Airport west of Seoul, a flight management official told AFP’s “Infrastructure” news agency.
According to the same source, domestic and international arrivals and departures were “suspended for more than three hours, from 1:46 a.m. (4:46 p.m. GMT) to 4:43 a.m.” The airport has since been operating normally, according to the official.
Pyongyang has launched more than a thousand balloons carrying trash into South Korea in retaliation for South Korean activists opposing Pyongyang’s top leader, Kim Jong Un, sending balloons carrying propaganda.
In response, Seoul completely suspended a 2018 military agreement aimed at easing tensions and restarted some propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers in border areas.
Military exercises
South Korea’s navy resumed live-fire drills near its maritime border with North Korea on Wednesday, the first such exercises since Seoul suspended a military deal aimed at easing tensions with the North.
South Korea’s navy said in a statement that “approximately 290” shells were fired at “reconstructed enemy targets” as part of the exercise.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the government’s top spokeswoman, warned South Korea earlier this month that Seoul “will undoubtedly witness a new North Korean counterattack” if leaflet distribution and loudspeaker broadcasts continued.
South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol on Tuesday visited a U.S. aircraft carrier that arrived in South Korea for joint military exercises scheduled to begin later in June that will also involve Japan.
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