North Korea test fired a ballistic missile over the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, but it exploded in the air soon after the launch, South Korea’s military said.
The missile was launched from an area in or near the North Korean capital Pyongyang at around 5:30 a.m., said the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, or JCS.
A JCS official told reporters that the military was considering the possibility that North Korea had launched a hypersonic missile, adding that smoke appeared to emanate from the missile more than on previous test launches.
The official noted the missile could possibly have been powered by solid propellants.
Compared with liquid-fuel missiles, solid-fuel missiles are thought to be more difficult to detect before they are launched because they require fewer steps to prepare, including no need for fuel injection.
After the missile launch, the nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan discussed efforts to coordinate their response to North Korea, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The three sides condemned the North's ballistic missile launch as a clear violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and said they pose a serious threat to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and the international community,” the ministry said in a press release.
The launch came after North Korea criticized the arrival in South Korea of the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and warned of taking “overwhelming and new” deterrence measures against what it called a “provocative” act.
The aircraft carrier arrived in the city of Busan on Saturday ahead of a trilateral exercise with South Korea and Japan.
The launch comes after North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation treaty with Russia during a summit last week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
As part of their pact, the two leaders agreed to offer military assistance “without delay” if either is attacked.
North Korea sent trash-carrying balloons to the South on Tuesday night for the second straight day, the latest in a series of balloon flights by both sides that have raised tension on their heavily fortified border.
Since late last month, North Korea is estimated to have launched more than 2,000 such balloons in what it said was a response to a anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.
North Korea test-fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on May 30 while launching GPS jamming attacks against the South.
Edited by Mike Firn.