North Korean Spy Satellite Falls into Sea
2023-06-01
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1North Korea's attempt to put its first military satellite into orbit failed Wednesday.
2The unsuccessful launch was a setback for leader Kim Jong Un.
3Kim has pushed to increase his country's military strength with new weapons.
4State news agency KCNA said the new "Chollima-1" satellite launch rocket failed because of instability in the engine and fuel system.
5The launch was North Korea's sixth satellite launch attempt, but its first since 2016.
6The launch caused emergency alerts and brief evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan.
7The warnings were later cancelled with no damage reported.
8South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was carrying out an operation to recover what are believed to be parts of the space launch vehicle.
9The military shared pictures of a large object floating in the sea about 200 kilometers off the west coast island of Eocheongdo.
10George William Herbert of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies is a missile expert.
11He said the images showed at least part of a rocket, including an "interstage" part designed to connect to another part.
12Japan's foreign ministry said officials from the United States, Japan, and South Korea held a phone call in which they "strongly condemned" the launch.
13North Korea had said it would launch its first military spy satellite between May 31 and June 11 to increase surveillance of U.S. military activities.
14The North Korean rocket fell into the sea "after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine," state news reported.
15State media said North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration said it would investigate the "serious defects" before conducting a second launch as soon as possible.
16Leif-Eric Easley is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
17He said it would have been hard for North Korea to hide the failure internationally.
18But it will likely offer North Korean citizens a different story.
19"This outcome also suggests that Pyongyang may stage another provocation soon, in part to make up for today's setback," Easley added.
20The United Nations placed economic sanctions on North Korea over earlier satellite and missile launches and its nuclear program.
21But the U.N. has not reacted to recent tests.
22China and Russia have blocked attempts to increase the sanctions.
23The two nations are permanent Security Council members.
24The U.S. said it would take all necessary measures to protect the American homeland and to defend South Korea and Japan.
25Ri Pyong Chol is a top North Korean official.
26On Tuesday, he said the North needs a space-based surveillance system to balance growing security threats from South Korea and the United States.
27However, the spy satellite shown earlier in the country's state-run media did not appear to be able to produce high quality images.
28Some experts said it might be able to observe troop movements and large targets like warships and warplanes.
29Lee Choon Geun is an expert with South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.
30He said, with three to five spy satellites, North Korea could build a surveillance system to observe the Korean Peninsula at all times.
31The satellite is one of several high-technology weapon systems that Kim has publicly promised.
32Other weapons include a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear submarine, an intercontinental ballistic missile and a hypersonic missile.
33After several failures, North Korea successfully put its first satellite into orbit in 2012 and a second in 2016.
34The government said both are Earth observation satellites launched under its peaceful space development program.
35But many foreign experts believe both were developed to spy on other nations.
36Observers say there has been no evidence that the satellites have ever sent images back to North Korea.
37I'm Dan Novak.
1North Korea's attempt to put its first military satellite into orbit failed Wednesday. The unsuccessful launch was a setback for leader Kim Jong Un. Kim has pushed to increase his country's military strength with new weapons. 2State news agency KCNA said the new "Chollima-1" satellite launch rocket failed because of instability in the engine and fuel system. The launch was North Korea's sixth satellite launch attempt, but its first since 2016. 3The launch caused emergency alerts and brief evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan. The warnings were later cancelled with no damage reported. 4South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military was carrying out an operation to recover what are believed to be parts of the space launch vehicle. The military shared pictures of a large object floating in the sea about 200 kilometers off the west coast island of Eocheongdo. 5George William Herbert of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies is a missile expert. He said the images showed at least part of a rocket, including an "interstage" part designed to connect to another part. 6Japan's foreign ministry said officials from the United States, Japan, and South Korea held a phone call in which they "strongly condemned" the launch. 7North Korea had said it would launch its first military spy satellite between May 31 and June 11 to increase surveillance of U.S. military activities. 8The North Korean rocket fell into the sea "after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine," state news reported. 9State media said North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration said it would investigate the "serious defects" before conducting a second launch as soon as possible. 10Leif-Eric Easley is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. He said it would have been hard for North Korea to hide the failure internationally. But it will likely offer North Korean citizens a different story. 11"This outcome also suggests that Pyongyang may stage another provocation soon, in part to make up for today's setback," Easley added. 12The United Nations placed economic sanctions on North Korea over earlier satellite and missile launches and its nuclear program. But the U.N. has not reacted to recent tests. China and Russia have blocked attempts to increase the sanctions. The two nations are permanent Security Council members. 13The U.S. said it would take all necessary measures to protect the American homeland and to defend South Korea and Japan. 14Ri Pyong Chol is a top North Korean official. On Tuesday, he said the North needs a space-based surveillance system to balance growing security threats from South Korea and the United States. 15However, the spy satellite shown earlier in the country's state-run media did not appear to be able to produce high quality images. Some experts said it might be able to observe troop movements and large targets like warships and warplanes. 16Lee Choon Geun is an expert with South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute. He said, with three to five spy satellites, North Korea could build a surveillance system to observe the Korean Peninsula at all times. 17The satellite is one of several high-technology weapon systems that Kim has publicly promised. Other weapons include a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear submarine, an intercontinental ballistic missile and a hypersonic missile. 18After several failures, North Korea successfully put its first satellite into orbit in 2012 and a second in 2016. The government said both are Earth observation satellites launched under its peaceful space development program. But many foreign experts believe both were developed to spy on other nations. 19Observers say there has been no evidence that the satellites have ever sent images back to North Korea. 20I'm Dan Novak. 21Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press. 22_______________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24instability -n. the state of being likely to change or to perform unpredictably 25evacuate - v. to move people away from an area because of possible danger 26surveillance - n. to observe for security or military reasons 27thrust -n. force that pushes forward or upward 28stage -n. a section of a rocket 29defect - n. a problem or fault that something has 30provocation - n. an act meant to cause anger, outrage or distraction 31make up for -v. (phrasal) to do something in an effort to ease the effect of something else 32sanctions - n. (pl.) punishments placed on a country to cause it to obey international law