OFF TARGET

South Korea Apologizes After Missile Drill With U.S. Goes Horribly Wrong

The embarrassing mishap was supposed to be a show of strength against North Korea.

South Korea’s military has apologized after a missile firing conducted with the U.S. went awry Tuesday, with the rocket malfunctioning and slamming into the ground inside an air force base. Although the missile didn’t explode, the sound of the impact and a subsequent fire left residents in the nearby coastal city of Gangneung fearing they were under attack from North Korea. The botched missile launch had been intended to be a show of force against Kim Jong Un’s regime after Pyongyang alarmingly fired an intermediate-range missile over Japan. There were no reported injuries when the South Korean Hyumoo-2 ballistic missile crashed, according to media reports. The South Korean military acknowledged the embarrassing accident after videos of the fire at the base were posted online, with officials vowing an investigation into what caused the “abnormal flight.”