People watch a news program about the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's missile launch, with a file image, at a train station in Seoul, the Republic of Korea on January 14, 2022. LEE JIN-MAN AP SEOUL hours after a ballistic missile was flown over Japan on Tuesday, the Republic of Korea's residents were startled by the sight of flames leaping from a nearby military base and missiles soaring into the sky.
It wasn't the beginning of a war, but rather a display of military force that went wrong in a blaze of rocket fuel.
The ROK said it was conducting a nighttime drill with Hyunmoo 2 C short-range ballistic missiles SRBMs when one failed shortly after launch and hit the ground inside the base in Gangneung, on the east coast of the ROK.
A military official told a news conference that a missile was carrying a warhead, but it wasn't armed and didn't explode, and there were no casualties. The official apologized for causing residents to worry.
The burning rocket fuel ignited calls to emergency responders and fuelled social media rumors that went unanswered for eight hours until the military disclosed the drill and explained the fire.
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All of a sudden I heard a roar and it made me think something had gone wrong, said Kim Hee-soo, a nearby resident. 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 shared on social media went viral overnight, and other residents chimed in with concerns and fears over the course of the war, despite silence from military authorities.
I thought it was a war, one said in a comment on the video.
Another said their house was shaken by the blast, and a third said they evacuated, thinking a landslide was heading for their home.
Military training is often conducted near communities in densely populated ROK, sparking some protests.
The 24 hour disaster management office in Gangneung said 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 launch missiles from the base, including a joint US-ROK daytime drill in June.
Kim, 43, said he's never had such an accident in my years, having been born and raised here. It makes me very nervous and I hope that they can let us know when they conduct training.