North Korean missile launch may have failed, says South Korea

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Monday, and the second may have misfired and exploded during an irregular flight, possibly raining debris inside the country, South Korea’s military said.

South Korea was still analyzing the launch and had no immediate confirmation whether there were casualties or damage to North Korean property, military spokesman Lee Sung-joon said at a briefing.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier that the North fired a short-range ballistic missile that flew about 600 km and a second ballistic missile that flew about 120 km, both from an area near the west coast.

The two were fired in a northeasterly direction, he added.

The trajectory means the second missile may have landed in an area close to the North Korean capital Pyongyang, but Lee said the military could not comment further.

South Korea said it has been observing the North’s missile launches since the preparation stage and tracking the projectile in flight.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile launch as a provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, adding that it had shared information about the missiles with U.S. and Japanese officials.

“The South Korean military will maintain its capability and posture to respond forcefully to any provocation while closely monitoring North Korea’s various activities under a strong South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture.”

The second missile on Monday would be the second failed launch in five days. South Korea’s military said the North fired what appeared to be a hypersonic missile on Wednesday, but it went out of control and exploded.

The first missile fired on Monday appeared to be similar to the North Korean KN-23 short-range ballistic missile believed to have been used by Russia against Ukraine.

North Korea is suspected of supplying ballistic missiles and artillery shells to Russia. Both countries deny this, despite their promises of military cooperation and a recently signed pact that includes pledges of mutual military support.