South Korea, U.S. Launch 4 Missiles into the Sea of Japan

Forces of South Korea and the United States fired 4 surface-to-surface missiles into the Sea of Japan as part of their joint military exercise.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated that four Army Tactical Missile Systems and a Hyumoo-2 ballistic missiles were fired. A second short-range Hyumoo-2 malfunctioned and crashed into the ground on the air force base on the outskirts of Gangneung. No injuries were reported, and an investigation into the cause of the malfunction has begun. The military added that the Hyunmoo-2 missile carried a warhead but that it did not explode.

The joint military exercise is being conducted as response to the test of a ballistic missile conducted by the DPRK, Yonhap reported.

North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday which flew over Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean after travelling a total of 4,500km. It is the North's first missile launch over Japan since 2017. Japan has reportedly issued an alert to some citizens to take cover.