North Korea said its recent attempt to launch a new rocket, reportedly carrying its second military spy satellite, failed after an engine exploded mid-flight and crashed into the nearby water.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said it launched the satellite on a new rocket from its northwestern space center. The agency said it blew up soon after liftoff and the issue was suspected to be an engine problem, The Associated Press reported.
Earlier Monday, North Korea notified Japan’s coast guard about its plan, warning the country to exercise caution in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China, and east of the Philippine island of Luzon.
Japan’s NHK public television station reported an image captured by a camera in northeastern China showing an orange light in the sky and an apparent explosion. South Korea also tracked the launch trajectory and within four minutes, the country spotted fragments in the water, per the AP.
The launch came hours after leaders from South Korea, China and Japan met in Seoul for their first meeting in more than four years.
North Korea successfully launched the reconnaissance satellite, called the Malligyong-1, atop a Chollima-1 rocket in the country’s main launch center Tuesday night, according to state-run news agency Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The communist nation launched its first spy satellite in November as part of its efforts to increase space surveillance against the U.S. Both attempts failed.
The news comes months after the U.N. Security Council banned North Korea from launching satellites because it views them as a disguised test of its missile technology.
The U.S. condemned the first launch, citing the violation of the U.N. resolution, which bars the country from ballistic missile technology.
“The president and his national security team are assessing the situation in close coordination with our allies and partners,” the Biden administration said in a statement at the time. “We urge all countries to condemn this launch and call on [North Korea] to come to the table for serious negotiations.”
North Korea has previously warned that any interference with its spy satellite mission would be a “declaration of war.”
