North Korea unsuccessfully attempted another satellite launch this week, ending in the explosion and crash of the rocket carrying the craft into the sea.
The rocket launch, conducted Monday, failed after the engine reportedly exploded midair not long after takeoff.
“The launch failed due to the air blast of the new-type satellite carrier rocket during the first-stage flight,” Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
KCNA is one of North Korea’s state-aligned news outlets.
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People sit near a television showing file footage during a news report at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, after North Korea said late Monday that the rocket carrying its “Malligyong-1-1” reconnaissance satellite exploded minutes after launch due to a suspected engine problem. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
An unnamed vice-director of the National Aerospace Technology Administration said that the fiery malfunction was caused by a newly developed liquid oxygen-petroleum engine.
Neighboring countries Japan and South Korea were informed by North Korean officials earlier this week that a rocket launch would be taking place between Monday and June 8.
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A view of North Korea’s Kijong-dong village from Mount Dora inside the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (Jasmine Leung/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Monday launch was the country’s latest attempt to put a second satellite into space.
“We are aware of the DPRK’s May 27 launch using ballistic missile technology, which, is a brazen violation of multiple unanimous UNSC resolutions, raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond,” said U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
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Visitors look at the North Korean side from the unification observatory in Paju, South Korea. A rocket launched by North Korea to deploy the country’s second spy satellite exploded shortly after liftoff Monday, state media reported, in a setback for leader Kim Jong Un’s hopes to operate multiple satellites to better monitor the U.S. and South Korea. (Associated Press)
The launch was conducted only a few hours after trilateral meetings were held between South Korea, Japan and China.
It came as a surprise due to North Korea’s historic tendency not to test weapons at the same time as its ally, China, was pursuing diplomatic objectives in the East Asian region.
