Pyongyang [North Korea], August 24: North Korea launched a second satellite at dawn on August 24, but it failed and announced it would try again in October.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as saying that the North launched a Chollima-1 rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite at dawn on August 24, but failed.
The cause was due to a malfunction in the third stage of the booster. KCNA said that "it is not a big problem on the reliability aspect of the stage engines and the system".
North Korea's national space agency intends to investigate the cause of the incident and will attempt to launch a satellite again in October, according to KCNA. A few days ago, North Korea informed Japan that it would launch a satellite, similar to the last time.
The emergency system in Japan was activated at 4 p.m. local time after the launch this morning, according to Reuters. Residents of Okinawa Prefecture in the southern part of the country are urged to stay indoors. About 20 minutes later, the authorities announced the missile had passed and headed for the Pacific Ocean, and lifted the alert.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on television that the missile launches were a threat to regional security. He said Tokyo would condemn Pyongyang in the strongest possible way. He also announced that rocket fragments fell in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and Pacific Ocean.
South Korea's military condemned the launch, saying it violated a United Nations Security Council resolution banning North Korea from using ballistic missile technology .
The US State Department also said North Korea's launch violated many United Nations Security Council resolutions and stressed Washington wanted dialogue with North Korea without preconditions.
In late May, North Korea also launched a spy satellite for the first time, but it failed. During a meeting in June attended by leader Kim Jong-un , North Korea called it the most serious drawback in the first half of 2023 and cannot be ignored.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
