South Korea announced that it had recovered debris from a North Korean satellite that fell into the sea after a failed launch, saying it could not be used for military surveillance.
South Korea’s military announced today the end of a 36-day campaign to search for and recover North Korean missile and satellite debris that fell into the western sea at the end of May. The operation was conducted to recover debris And analysis to determine the level of technology North Korea has achieved and whether any foreign components are used.
“After detailed analysis of the large debris recovered from North Korea’s rockets and satellites, South Korean and American experts have judged that they do not have military reconnaissance capabilities,” the South Korean military said.
North Korea previously confirmed that the Cheollima-1 booster rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 military reconnaissance satellite on May 31 crashed into the sea due to a propulsion failure. The Workers’ Party of Korea considers the satellite launch incident a serious failure and criticizes the officials in charge of the matter.
After the failed launch, North Korea vowed to thoroughly investigate the “serious defects” discovered, take remedial measures and “make a second launch as soon as possible”. Kim Yo-jong, a member of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister of leader Kim Jong-un, on May 31, affirmed that the country would continue to make efforts to launch satellites to strengthen military surveillance capabilities.
The United States, Japan and South Korea strongly condemned North Korea’s satellite launch. The White House called the move “a move that threatens to destabilize the security situation in and out of the region.” Tokyo and Seoul criticized Pyongyang for serious violations of UN resolutions.
The United States and its allies both believe that North Korea’s satellite launches are just a “cover” to test missiles because they use similar technology. North Korea launched two satellite-carrying rockets in 2012 and 2016, both of which flew over Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan.
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