Torpedo Goes Missing During Test Launch

A test of the new submarine torpedo Hongsangeo (Red Shark), which cost W100 billion to develop, flopped Thursday when it failed to hit the target and went missing.

A Navy spokesman said the King Sejong the Great destroyer carried out the first test launch of the torpedo at sea near the southern city of Pohang. "It failed to strike the target 60 m below the sea and 20 km away and went missing."

The military is investigating the cause for failure with the Agency for Defense Development and defense companies involved before it carries out a second test.

The Hongsangeo anti-submarine missiles, whose development began in 2004, were first deployed on destroyers this year after long years of performance tests and trial runs.