North Korea has announced the failed launch of a carrier rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite. She fell into the sea, reported the North Korean state news agency KCNA. “The new satellite launch vehicle ‘Cheollima-1’ has sunk in the West Sea,” the agency reported, using the Korean name for the Yellow Sea. The projectile “lost momentum due to an abnormal start of the two-stage motor.”
The South Korean news agency Yonhap had previously reported, citing the South Korean general staff, that the projectile had disappeared from radar earlier than expected. The army is checking whether it exploded or crashed.
Brief alarm in Seoul
After the rocket was launched, South Korea’s capital Seoul and the southern Japanese region of Okinawa briefly raised the alarm. Alarm sirens could be heard in Seoul, and text messages called on residents to prepare for an evacuation. The alert was later withdrawn. The Ministry of the Interior said it was a mistake.
North Korea announced on Tuesday that it would launch a spy satellite in June. This is needed to track military movements of the United States and its allies in real time, KCNA reported, citing a senior military officer.
South Korea and the United States interpreted this as a presumed upcoming test of a missile with ballistic missile technology. UN decisions prohibit North Korea from launching such missiles because they can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
Central project of Pyongyang
This KCNA photo is said to show Kim Jong Un and his daughter visiting North Korea’s space agency in mid-May
North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un inspected his country’s first military spy satellite in mid-May and gave the green light for the “future plan of action”. In 2021 he described the development of such a satellite as one of the central projects in the defense sector.
The US government condemned the launch of the multi-stage rocket “in the strongest terms”. “This alleged space launch employed technologies directly related to North Korea’s ICBM program,” the National Security Council said. De-escalation by diplomatic means is still possible, but Pyongyang must stop its provocative actions immediately.
gri/fw (afp, dpa)
Source: DW
