South Korea salvages part of rocket from North Korea's failed satellite launch

Seoul [South Korea], June 17 : South Korea has recovered part of a rocket used by North Korea in a failed attempt to launch its first military satellite last month, Al Jazeera reported.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Friday that the part had been recovered the day before (Thursday) and that efforts were being made to locate more pieces of what the North claimed to be a space launch vehicle.

On May 31, North Korea attempted to use the Chollima-1 to put its first spy satellite into orbit, but the rocket experienced problems and crashed into the ocean. This was nuclear-armed nation's sixth attempt to launch a satellite, and its first since 2016.

Since the crash, South Korea has been conducting salvage operations off the island of Eocheongdo on its west coast in an effort to find the debris, with the heavy components likely having fallen to the sea floor at a depth of around 75 metres.

Photographs of sailors getting ready to retrieve a giant cylindrical item from the water, estimated to be roughly 15 metres (49 feet) long, were made public by the South Korean military.

The military said in a statement, "The salvaged object will be thoroughly analysed by expert organisations, including the Agency for Defence Development."

According to a JCS official quoted by the Yonhap news agency, the navy sent out two salvage and rescue ships, a submarine rescue ship, a P-3 maritime surveillance plane, and a party of particularly qualified divers to help with the salvage operation, according to Al Jazeera.

A 50-centimetre (20 inch) underwater visibility was one of the difficulties the attempt ran against, it added.

With the leader Kim Jong Un planning to launch the country's first spy satellite into orbit as part of his military modernization agenda, North Korea has been swiftly modernising its military arsenal.

Despite a United Nations prohibition on ballistic missile launches, it conducted a record number of weapons tests in 2022 and has continued its launch schedule throughout this year.

North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday night, which the US, Japan, and South Korea all condemned.

Several thousand South Korean and American troops began participating in military drills in South Korea at the same time as the launch.

Such exercises have been portrayed by Pyongyang as invasion drills, which serve to defend its weapons project as essential for self-defence, Al Jazeera reported.

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