Kyodo [Japan], May 31 : The launch of North Korea's spy satellite failed on Wednesday, drawing a swift rebuke from the United States and its regional allies for the use of ballistic missile technology, Kyodo News Agency reported.
Earlier in the morning, North Korea launched the satellite at 6:27 am but failed to reach the desired place. The country pledged to make another attempt "as soon as possible," reported Kyodo News Agency citing a state-run Korean Central News Agency.
The projectile fired from a site near Tongchang-ri, northwestern North Korea, may have disappeared over the Yellow Sea at around 6:35 am, the Japanese government said, adding it did not reach the intended distance announced by Pyongyang, according to Kyodo News Agency.
Meanwhile, South Korea said that the projectile was a long-range ballistic missile that fell about 200 kilometres from the country's Eocheong Island in the Yellow Sea. It was retrieving an object that seemed to be part of what the North called a "space launch vehicle."
After the failure, KCNA said that some problems came. "serious defects" appeared, and the rocket carrying the spy satellite experienced an abnormal firing of its second-stage engine and lost propulsion, adding the failure was attributed to the "low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system."
After the failure of the spy satellite, the senior officials of Japan, the United States and South Korea held phone talks and "strongly condemned" the latest launch involving the use of ballistic missile technology in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, according to the Japanese government, reported Kyodo News Agency.
The resolutions banning North Korea from utilizing ballistic technology have led to the imposition of sanctions on the country.
Takehiro Funakoshi, the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau chief, and his South Korean and U.S. counterparts, Kim Gunn and Sung Kim, agreed to continue monitoring the North's moves, the Japanese government said.
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