Suspected North Korean hypersonic missile exploded in flight, South Korea says

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, as North Korea protests the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a military drill with South Korea and Japan.

Later Wednesday, South Korea conducted live-fire drills along its disputed western sea boundary with North Korea, its first since it suspended a 2018 agreement with the North aimed at reducing front-line military tensions in early June.

The North Korean missile was launched at about 5:30 a.m. and was travelling off the North's east coast before it blew up, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Missile fragments were scattered in the water up to 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the launch site near North Korea's capital, it said. No damage was immediately reported.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it believes the weapon was a solid-fueled hypersonic missile. The launch generated more smoke than normal launches, possibly because of an engine fault, it told reporters.

In a three-way phone call, senior diplomats from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan condemned the missile launch as a violation of U.N. resolutions and agreed to maintain close coordination over North Korea, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.

North Korea has performed a series of hypersonic missile tests since 2021 in an apparent effort to acquire an ability to penetrate its rivals’ missile defense shields. Foreign experts question whether the missiles have achieved their desired speed and maneuverability during the test flights. In recent years, North Korea has also been developing more missiles that use solid propellants, Launches of such missiles are harder to detect than liquid-propellant missiles, which must be fueled before liftoff.

Wednesday's missile test came as the rival Koreas are engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare using balloons and loudspeaker broadcasts.

On Wednesday night, South Korea said that North Korea was flying large balloons likely carrying trash across the border for a third consecutive day. Previous launches dropped manure, cigarette butts, waste batteries, scraps of cloth and waste papers in South Korea.

Tuesday night's balloons launches resulted in the suspension of takeoffs and landings at South Korea's Incheon International Airport, about an hour’s drive from the border, for three hours early Wednesday, in the second such disruption since the North’s balloon launches began on May 28, according to South Korean aviation authorities.

North Korea says it is responding to balloons launched by South Korean activists that carried political leaflets into the North. On June 9, South Korea briefly conducted propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers along the border for the first time in years in response to the North Korean balloons. South Korea’s military said Monday it is ready to turn on its loudspeakers again.

On Wednesday, South Korean forces on front-line islands fired 290 artillery and missile rounds into the waters near the Koreas' western sea boundary, the site of several bloody naval skirmishes since 1999, the South Korean marine corps said. It said South Korea will regularly conduct firing drills there.

Such firing exercises were prohibited under the 2018 tension-easing deal with North Korea, which required both countries to cease all hostile acts along their land and sea borders. The deal had already been in danger of collapsing in recent months, with the two Koreas firing artillery rounds near the sea boundary in January and taking other steps that violated it.

Also Wednesday, South Korea and the U.S. flew 30 advanced fighter jets as part of joint drills this week.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in South Korea on Saturday, and North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il on Monday called its deployment “reckless” and “dangerous.” North Korea has previously described major U.S.-South Korean drills as invasion rehearsals and has reacted with missile tests.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the vessel on Tuesday, becoming the first sitting South Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994. Yoon told American and South Korean forces on the carrier that their countries’ alliance is the world’s greatest and can defeat any enemy. He said the U.S. carrier would depart Wednesday for the South Korea-U.S.-Japan drill, dubbed “Freedom Edge.”

South Korean officials said the training aims to strengthen the three countries’ capability to respond to North Korea’s evolving nuclear threats at a time when the North is advancing its military partnership with Russia.

During a summit in North Korea's capital last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal requiring each country to provide aid to the other if it is attacked and vowed to boost other cooperation. Analysts 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 conventional arms for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.

North Korea’s missile launch on Wednesday was its first weapons demonstration since Kim Jong Un on May 30 supervised the firing of nuclear-capable multiple rocket launchers to simulate a preemptive attack on South Korea.

Since 2022, North Korea has sharply increased its weapons tests to boost its nuclear attack capabilities in response to what it calls a deepening U.S. military threat. Foreign experts say North Korea eventually aims to use its larger nuclear arsenal to wrest greater concessions from the U.S. when talks resume between them.

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In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, a South Korean Air Force F-35A fighter jet takes off during a combined air force exercise between the United States and South Korea at Chungju Air Base in Chungju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, the U.S. Air Force's F-22 fighter jet takes off during a combined air force exercise between the United States and South Korea at Chungju Air Base in Chungju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, the U.S. Air Force's F-16 fighter jet takes off during a combined air force exercise between the United States and South Korea at Chungju Air Base in Chungju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, the South Korean Marine's K-9 self-propelled howitzers fire during a live-fire drills at Yeonpyeong Island near maritime border with North Korea, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, the South Korean Marine's Spike missile is launched during a live-fire drills at Yeonpyeong Island near maritime border with North Korea, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

In this photo provided by the South Korea Defense Ministry, the South Korean Marine's Chunmoo multiple rocket launcher systems fire a missile during a live-fire drills at Yeonpyeong Island near maritime border with North Korea, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP)

Visitors walk near a wire fence decorated with ribbons written with messages wishing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A North Korean soldier stands at the North's military guard post as a North Korean flag flutters in the wind, seen from Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Visitors use binoculars to see the North Korean side from the unification observatory in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. South Korea threatened Tuesday to restart anti-Pyongyang frontline propaganda broadcasts in the latest bout of Cold War-style campaigns between the rivals after North Korea resumed its trash-carrying balloon launches. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A file image of a missile launch by North Korea is shown during a news program, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, in an apparent protest of the recent regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

People watch a news program broadcasting a file image of a missile launch by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A North Korean ballistic missile test on Wednesday likely ended in failure, South Korea's military said, days after the North protested the recent regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Contrails believed to be created by a North Korean missile are observed over seas off Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A suspected hypersonic missile launched by North Korea exploded in flight on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, a development that comes as North Korea is protesting the regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (Kim Do-hoon/Yonhap via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, center, boards the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier at the South Korean naval base in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024 (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, third from left, boards the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier at the South Korean naval base in Busan, South Korea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024 (South Korean Presidential Office/Yonhap via AP)

A news program broadcasts a file image of a missile launch by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, in an apparent protest of the recent regional deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill with South Korea and Japan. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A visitor looks at the North Korean side from the unification observatory in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. South Korea threatened Tuesday to restart anti-Pyongyang frontline propaganda broadcasts in the latest bout of Cold War-style campaigns between the rivals after North Korea resumed its trash-carrying balloon launches. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Christie Raleigh Crossley was watching a documentary recently in which basketball star Sue Bird mentioned how every time she was selected to Team USA for the Olympics, she felt like a kid again.

When the scene was over, Raleigh Crossley paused her TV and cried. She thought about the injuries, the surgeries and the impairments that rendered impossible her childhood Olympic dream. Later, though, came a sense of peace. “I wasn’t sitting there going, ‘I’m never going to be an Olympian,’” she said.

This week in the Freeman Aquatics Center at the University of Minnesota, Raleigh Crossley has instead set her sights on reaching the biggest stage in adaptive athletics with victories at the U.S. Paralympic swim trials. A trip to Paris for the 2024 Paralympics could finally fulfill her ambition.

Raleigh Crossley’s dream of being an Olympic swimmer began at age 9, watching the Atlanta Games. The native of Toms River, New Jersey, had an ability in the water that landed her at Florida State, where she won the ACC Freshman of the Year award and was named an All-American twice.

But accidents in 2007 and then 2008 hurt her badly. In the first, Raleigh Crossley sustained back and neck injuries from a car crash in which she was hit by a drunken driver. The following year, she was the victim of a pedestrian hit-and-run and sustained a brain injury.

Still, Raleigh Crossley won a Division III national title at Rowan University before her college eligibility was exhausted.

Through her collegiate career and beyond, the aspiration to be an Olympian never wavered. But after training with Michael Phelps and other swimmers returning from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Raleigh Crossley decided to start a family – she now has three children.

Raleigh Crossley began to think about one more shot at Olympic qualifying, but in December 2018 she experienced partial paralysis from a brain tumor. After surgery, she returned to the pool to prepare for the 2020 trials, only to find she had no control over her left arm when swimming. Her quest for Tokyo was abandoned after just 50 meters in the water.

Raleigh Crossley watched the Tokyo Paralympics from her home and was intrigued by the commentary of former Paralympic swimmer Michelle Konkoly. She called Konkoly’s coach, Paul Yetter, shortly thereafter and asked if she could simply avoid using her nonfunctioning arm while in the water.

“He was like, ‘it could work,’” Raleigh Crossley recalled of their conversation. “My entire para career, I’ve trained with just one arm."

Raleigh Crossley began working toward getting to Paris two years ago. A few American records and a 100-meter backstroke world championship later, she seems likely to claim a spot when the U.S. para-swim team is announced on Sunday. Through Friday she had won both the 100-meter backstroke and 100-meter freestyle in her class at the Paralympic trials.

Every Paralympian has a story behind why they are in the Games. Raleigh Crossley has the unusual perspective of a decorated career as an able-bodied swimmer before competing in para events.

“There’s muscle memory, that left arm will do whatever,” Raleigh Crossley noted of her new swimming style. “But if I focus on my right (arm), then I know that that side at least is where my power is.”

Raleigh Crossley’s coach, Wilma Wong, has worked with several Paralympic swimmers.

“Every human has a part of their body that is not equal,” Wong said. “You’re always working with some sort of discrepancy, it’s just that the discrepancy is a little bit bigger when someone has a physical impairment.”

Raleigh Crossley acknowledged that the adjustment to one-armed swimming was a massive mental block to navigate. “In the past, I have been a little stubborn and hard-headed,” she admitted. “It was taking other people going, ‘I don’t think that’s what’s working best, try this,’ and going, ‘I’m going to trust in you on that.’”

At age 37, it all seems to be coming together physically for Raleigh Crossley. Emotionally, it’s still a journey. She said the proximity of her lifelong goal only really set in for her when swimming in her first preliminary round at the trials on Thursday.

“In the warm down pool, I told my coach, ‘I’m going to do a 500 (meter),’ she said. “I’ve got tears to cry.”

Jack Rachinsky is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Christie Raleigh Crossley swims during the women's 100 freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Trials in Minneapolis on Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jackson Ranger)

Christie Raleigh Crossley waits on the block before swimming the Women's 100 freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Trials in Minneapolis, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leighton Smithwick)

Christie Raleigh Crossley raises her hand before swimming the Women's 100 freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Trials in Minneapolis, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leighton Smithwick)

Christie Raleigh Crossley swims the Women's 100 freestyle at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Trials in Minneapolis, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leighton Smithwick)

Christie Raleigh Crossley talks with her coach at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swim Team Trials in Minneapolis, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Leighton Smithwick)