Pyongyang says its attempt to put another spy satellite into orbit ends in failure, according to state news agency KCNA.
North Korea says its attempt to launch a rocket with a spy satellite on board failed after South Korea’s military reported the launch of an “unidentified projectile.”
North Korea said its attempt on Monday to put a spy satellite into orbit ended in a mid-air explosion, state media reported.
“The launch of the new satellite-carrying rocket failed when it exploded in mid-air during the flight of the first stage,” the deputy director general of North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration said in a report carried by state media.
An initial analysis suggested the cause was a newly developed liquid-fuel rocket engine, but other possible causes were being investigated, the report said.
Officials in South Korea and Japan had previously reported that the launch appeared to have failed.
On Monday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired an “unidentified southbound projectile” over the Yellow Sea.
Several minutes after launch, many fragments were spotted in the sea. He said intelligence officials in South Korea and the United States were reviewing whether the launch was successful.
The projectile launched by North Korea disappeared from radar and the launch appeared to have failed, a Japanese government official told broadcaster NHK.
A senior Japanese Defense Ministry official told reporters: “The missile did not fly to the announced area and the situation is not what North Korea intended. We are still analyzing whether it is a satellite or not,” reported Japanese news agency Kyodo.
Japan issued an emergency warning ordering evacuations in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, before lifting the alert and saying the rocket was not expected to fly over Japanese territory.
On Monday morning, North Korea said it planned to launch a satellite between Monday and June 4.
Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully launched its first spy satellite in November, drawing international condemnation.
The US called the launch a “blatant violation” of UN sanctions, two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia and had promised technical assistance to the isolated country.
Kim said late last year that Pyongyang would launch three more military spy satellites in 2024 as it continues a military modernization program that has seen a record number of weapons tests in 2023.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said another satellite launch – North Korea’s fourth attempt – would “undermine regional and global peace and stability.”
The South Korean military conducted strike formation flight and attack training on Monday to demonstrate “the strong capabilities and will of our military” after North Korea notified Japan of plans to launch a satellite by June 4 .
Experts said spy satellites could improve Pyongyang’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, especially about fierce rival South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict.
Seoul said the North received technical help from Russia for the satellite launch in November in exchange for sending weapons to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine.
A group of Russian engineers entered North Korea to help with launch preparations, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Sunday, citing a government official.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
