The failure of North Korea’s last attempt
North Korea’s latest attempt to launch a spy satellite into orbit has ended in failure. According to Pyongyang, the satellite exploded in the air during the first stage of flight and failed to be launched.
This announcement by North Korea generated criticism from Seoul and Tokyo, who considered the launch a provocation. Japanese broadcaster NHK published images of a projectile burning in the night sky, which subsequently exploded into a fireball.
Kim Jong-un’s priority
Putting a spy satellite into orbit has been one of the top priorities of the Kim Jong-un regime. Although North Korea claims to have succeeded last November in launching the Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit, Seoul’s intelligence agency has rejected this claim.
Seoul has also claimed that Kim received Russian technical assistance for this launch, in exchange for sending weapons containers to Moscow for use in Ukraine. Both Seoul and Tokyo urged Kim to cancel the launch, calling it a violation of U.N. resolutions.
International repercussions
North Korea’s launch has been condemned by several countries. South Korea has claimed that the launch is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and has expressed concern about the security situation in the region.
The US Indo-Pacific Command has also called the launch a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and warned that it could destabilize the security situation in the region and beyond.
Japan issued a brief alert to residents of Okinawa Prefecture to take shelter, but the alert was lifted minutes later.
