SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean ballistic missile test on Wednesday likely ended in failure, South Korea’s military said, days after the U.S. deployed an aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea launched a ballistic missile from its capital region around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. It said the missile was launched toward the North’s eastern waters, but the launch was suspected to have ended in failure.
It gave no further details like whether it assessed the North Korean missile likely crashed on the ground or exploded in mid-air. Japan’s Defense Ministry said earlier Wednesday that it also detected a suspected ballistic missile by North Korea.
The North’s reported launch also came hours after South Korea said North Korea floated huge balloons likely carrying trash across the border for a second consecutive day. South Korea’s earlier threatened to retaliate with anti-Pyongyang front-line propaganda broadcasts.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in South Korea on Saturday and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol boarded the carrier on Tuesday - the first sitting South Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994.
Yoon told American and South Korean troops on the carrier that their countries’ alliance is the world’s greatest and can defeat any enemy. He said the U.S. carrier is to leave Wednesday for the South Korea-U.S.-Japan drill, dubbed “Freedom Edge.” The training is aimed at sharpening the countries’ combined response in various areas of operation, including air, sea and cyberspace.
North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, on Monday called the U.S. aircraft carrier’s deployment “reckless” and “dangerous.” North Korea has previously called major U.S.-South Korean drills invasion rehearsals and reacted with missile tests.
South Korean officials said the carrier’s arrival is meant to help Seoul cope with North Korea’s nuclear threats and its advancing military partnerships with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on a deal requiring each country to provide aid if attacked and vowed to boost other cooperation. Observers say the accord represents the strongest connection between the two countries since the end of the Cold War.
The United States and its partners believe North Korea has been providing Russia with much-needed conventional arms for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.
North Korea’s reported missile launch is its first weapons demonstrations Kim Jong Un on May 30 supervised the firing of nuclear-capable multiple rocket launchers to simulate a preemptive attack on South Korea. The drill came days after North Korea’s attempt to put its second spy satellite into orbit ended in failure, with its rocket carrying that satellite exploding in mid-air soon after liftoff.
