(Seoul) North Korea announced on Wednesday that it had tried to launch a “military reconnaissance satellite”, but that it had “damaged at sea”, after triggering a missile alert in Japan and an order to Wrong evacuation in Seoul.
“The new satellite transport rocket Cheollima-1 crashed into the West Sea,” the Korean name for the Yellow Sea, state news agency KCNA said, explaining the failure as “loss of thrust due to abnormal engine start of the second stage, after separation from the first stage during normal flight”.
The projectile “quickly disappeared from radar before reaching its expected point of fall”, according to the South Korean army quoted by the Yonhap agency.
The South Korean military has released images of the debris of the satellite and its launcher which it says it recovered from the Yellow Sea, 200 km from Eocheong Island, far off the peninsula’s western coast. . These images show a large cylinder-shaped metal structure with some pipes and wires at its end.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SOUTH KOREAN MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, VIA REUTERS
The South Korean army has published images of the debris of the satellite and its launcher which it announced to have recovered from the Yellow Sea, 200 km from Eocheong Island.
The shooting, which occurred early Wednesday, caused confusion in Japan and Seoul. Sirens sounded, accompanied by a ‘critical emergency’ alert sent by the South Korean capital’s city hall at 6:41 a.m. (5:41 p.m. EST) accompanied by a booming ringtone on all phones city mobiles.
“Children First”
The alert, which urged residents to prepare for an evacuation by putting “children and the elderly first”, was later canceled, with the Home Office citing an error.
According to the South Korean military quoted by Yonhap, the rocket never threatened the Seoul metropolitan area.
A missile alert had also been issued in the Japanese department of Okinawa (south), calling on the population to take shelter. It was also lifted by the government, 30 minutes later.
The United States condemned the launch, which uses “ballistic missile technology” and “risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond,” said Adam Hodge, spokesman for the American National Security Council.
Pyongyang announced on Tuesday that it would put a spy satellite into orbit in order to “deal with the dangerous military actions of the United States and its vassals”.
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.
Missile in disguise?
Tokyo “strongly” condemned the shooting on Wednesday and denounced a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
“Kim’s determination [Jong Un] doesn’t stop there,” said Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst, adding that this latest operation may be a harbinger of “bigger provocations, including the nuclear test we’ve been speculating about for a long time.”
In 2012 and 2016, North Korea conducted ballistic missile tests, calling them satellite launches. Both projectiles had flown over the Okinawa region.
As soon as Pyongyang announced, the satellite launch project was immediately condemned by Tokyo and Seoul, who also invoked United Nations sanctions. These sanctions prohibit North Korea from launching ballistic missiles, which rely on the same technology as space launchers.
“If North Korea does proceed with this launch, it will have to pay the price and bear the suffering it deserves”, had launched the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to specialists, North Korea has no satellites in operation, although it has sent five into space. Three launches failed. As for the other two devices, which have probably been put into orbit, no independent organization has ever picked up their signals, suggesting a malfunction.
Criticizing the recent military maneuvers between Washington and Seoul, a senior North Korean official said on Tuesday that his country felt “the need to develop its means of reconnaissance and information as well as to improve various defensive and offensive weapons”.
For Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, mission success matters less than Pyongyang’s ability to build propaganda discourse and new diplomatic rhetoric around its space capabilities.
Since escalating tensions in 2019 with its neighbor, North Korea has accelerated its military development and declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power through its leader, Kim Jong-un.
The latter called for an “exponential” increase in North Korea’s arsenal, including tactical nuclear weapons.