South Korea releases video of North's missile exploding after spiraling out of control

South Korea's military released a video clip Friday showing a midair explosion of a North Korean missile after it spiraled out of control, in yet another dismissal of North Korea's claim of a successful test of a multiple-warhead missile.

An image, released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on June 28, 2024, shows a North Korean missile ascending in an abnormal manner during a failed launch earlier this week. [YONHAP]

South Korea's military released a video clip Friday showing a midair explosion of a North Korean missile after it spiraled out of control, in yet another dismissal of North Korea's claim of a successful test of a multiple-warhead missile.

The disclosure came a day after North Korea said it successfully conducted a missile test Wednesday aimed at securing multiple warhead capability, which allows a single ballistic missile to deliver multiple warheads to different targets.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has said the North launched a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, but the missile exploded in midair after traveling some 250 kilometers, labeling the North's claim of a successful test a "method of deception and exaggeration."

An image, released by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on June 28, 2024, shows a North Korean missile exploding into multiple fragments in midair during a failed launch earlier this week. [YONHAP]

The 28-second video, filmed by the South's thermal observation devices in different front-line units, showed the North's missile ascending in an abnormal manner, rolling left to right before it completely tumbled out of control.

The missile later exploded into multiple pieces of debris, contradicting the North's claim that the separated warheads were guided correctly to three targets.

"North Korea may have attempted to make a new type of missile ... but the analysis is very limited as the missile exploded in the very early stage," a JCS official said, stressing the military has "completely" ruled out the possibility of North Korea even attempting to conduct a multiple-warhead missile test.

Yonhap