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| North Korea conducts an "important final-stage test" at Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan, North Pyongan Province, for the development of a reconnaissance satellite, in this Dec. 19, 2022, file photo carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency. Yonhap |
North Korea said Wednesday a rocket carrying a military spy satellite it launched earlier in the day crashed into the Yellow Sea due to an engine problem and that the country plans to carry out its second launch "as soon as possible."
The North launched its military reconnaissance satellite "Malligyong-1," mounted on a new-type rocket named "Chollima-1," at its rocket launching station on the west coast at 6:27 a.m., according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
But the carrier rocket fell into the Yellow Sea "after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine after the separation of the first stage during the normal flight," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.
The failure was attributable to "the low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system and unstable character of the fuel used," the report said, citing a spokesperson of the state-run space development agency.
The North said it would thoroughly investigate the "serious" defects found in the latest satellite launch and take necessary measures to overcome them, vowing to "conduct the second launch as soon as possible through various part tests."
Earlier in the day, South Korea's military said what the North claims to be a "space launch vehicle" fell into waters some 200 kilometers west of the South's southwestern island of Eocheong, after an "abnormal" flight.
North Korea said Tuesday the planned launch of a spy satellite is "indispensable" to monitor "dangerous" military exercises by the United States and South Korea in real time.
The North notified Japan and the International Maritime Organization earlier this week of its plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.
A spy satellite is among the high-tech weapons systems that the North's leader Kim Jong-un vowed to develop at a key party congress in 2021, along with a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile and a nuclear-powered submarine.
Earlier this month, the North announced the completion of preparations to mount a spy satellite on a rocket, with Kim approving "the future action plan."
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| This photo, provided by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff shows an object believed to be part of North Korea's "space launch vehicle" that was retrieved from the Yellow Sea, May 31. Yonhap |
Experts said the North may have pressed ahead with the satellite launch due to political reasons, as it probably wants to show off its success to intensify internal solidarity ahead of a key anniversary in July.
Pyongyang will mark the 70th anniversary of "Victory Day" on July 27, the signing date of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The North has claimed it won the conflict that it calls the Great Fatherland Liberation War.
The North has launched a rocket carrying what it claims to be a satellite six times, including Wednesday's launch, since 1998. The regime put Earth-observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, respectively, but they are known not to be normally operating.
The North's satellite launch would violate a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programs, as it uses the same technology used in ballistic missiles. (Yonhap)
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