Residents near fiery South Korean missile crash ‘thought it was a war’
It wasn’t the start of a war, but a South Korean display of military force that went wrong in a blaze of burning rocket fuel.
Intended as a demonstration to deter North Korea, South Korea said it was conducting a nighttime drill with Hyunmoo-2C short-range ballic missiles (SRBMs) when one failed shortly after launch and hit the ground inside the base in Gangneung, on South Korea’s east coast.
The missile was carrying a warhead, but it wasn’t armed and didn’t explode, and there were no casualties, a military official told a briefing. The official apologised for causing residents to worry.
The burning rocket fuel lit up the night sky, however, sparking calls to emergency responders and fuelling social media rumours that went unanswered for eight hours until the military disclosed the drill and explained the fire.
South Korea and US hold live fire drills in response to North Korea’s provocative missile test pic.twitter.com/MoTHg4KPuK
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 5, 2022
“All of a sudden I heard a roar and it made me think something has gone wrong,” said Kim Hee-soo, a near resident. “So I looked at the area where they’ve fired Hyunmoo missiles before and there was flame and smoke and it was a total mess.”
A video that Kim shared on social media went viral overnight, and other residents chimed in with concerns and fears amid silence from military authorities.
“I thought it was a war,” one said in a comment on the video.
Another said their house was shaken the blast, and a third said they evacuated, thinking a landslide was headed for their home.
An explosion near Gangneung last night caused a social media storm in South Korea. Zero media reports or emergency alerts, raising suspicions of a cover up, a jet crash, or a missile launch.
It turns out it was the latter, gone very wrong.pic.twitter.com/AjT6dHPcYL
— Raphael Rashid (@koryodynasty) October 5, 2022
In densely populated South Korea, military training is often conducted near communities, sparking some protests.
The 24-hour disaster management office in Gangneung told Reuters that it had received several calls from worried residents.
An official with the agency said the military had confirmed it was conducting a drill, but did not explain the fire, and no city firefighters were called to the base.
Kim said he is used to missile launches from the base, including a joint US-South Korea daytime drill in June in response to other North Korean tests.
“I’ve never experienced such an accident in my years having been born and raised here,” said Kim, 43. “It makes me very nervous and I hope that they can let us know whenever they conduct a training.”
