The launch of a military satellite by North Korea caused panic in South Korea and Japan early on Wednesday.
North Korea announced on Wednesday that it had launched a rocket carrying a military observation satellite but that it had “fallen into the sea” due to a technical incident, according to the state agency KCNA.
“An anomaly in the ignition of the 2nd stage engine reduced thrust, causing the crash in the Yellow Sea,” Pyongyang said, reports South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
This failure is due “to the unreliability and stability of the new-type engine system applied to the Cheollima-1 carrier rocket and the unstable nature of the fuel used”, she added.
The South Korean military announced that it had recovered suspected debris from the satellite. Images showing a large cylinder-shaped metal structure with some pipes and wires at its end were released by Seoul.
A new launch “as soon as possible”
The North Korean administration said “it will thoroughly investigate the serious flaws revealed during the satellite’s launch, take urgent scientific and technological measures to overcome them, and carry out the second launch as soon as possible. as possible by conducting various partial tests,” KCNA continued.
North Korea announced on Tuesday that it would launch a spy satellite to “confront the dangerous military actions of the United States and its vassals”, Japan for its part believing that it would be a question of a disguised ballistic missile firing.
Although it does not communicate in advance about its missile tests, the regime generally informs about its space programs presented as peaceful, and had warned that this launch would take place between May 31 and June 11