Three months after the first spy satellite crashed into the water shortly after launch, North Korea reported that its second attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit on Thursday failed.
The creation of a military “eye in the sky” has been designated a key goal by leader Kim Jong Un, whose nuclear-armed nation claims it is a necessary counterbalance to rising US military action in the region.
According to the official Korean Central News Agency, the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) “conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1” on Thursday.
“The launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight,” NADA said, adding that the problem was “not a big issue” and that it would attempt another launch in October.
The putative space rocket was allegedly launched at roughly 3:50 a.m. (1850 GMT Wednesday), according to the South Korean military, and it flew over the Yellow Sea. It also stated that the search and recovery effort for the wreckage had started.
The North Korean launch on Thursday and the country’s first attempt in May were both condemned by South Korea’s National Security Council, which said that Pyongyang was “wasting limited resources on reckless provocations while blaming lower officials for the economic situation that is driving its people to starvation and death.”
Japan’s coast guard was alerted by North Korea that a satellite launch would occur between August 24 and August 31. As a result, Tokyo mobilized ships and its PAC-3 missile defense system.
The launch was first signalled by the Japanese government, which called it “extremely problematic” and issued a brief warning to residents of the southern Okinawa region to take cover.
“Behaviour like this goes against the UN resolutions and we’re already firmly protesting,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said.
Kishida added that in light of the recent trilateral Camp David summit, Washington, Tokyo and Seoul “will closely coordinate more than ever” in response.
North Korea is banned under multiple UN resolutions from testing ballistic technology, which is used for both missiles and space rockets.
The launch “risks destabilising the security situation in the region and beyond,” US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said.
