The military spy satellite launched by North Korea at 6.29 local time, 11.29 pm on May 30 in Italy, fell into the Yellow Sea after an “anomalous” flight. After the launch, alarm sirens rang out in Seoul, South Korea, which sent a critical emergency alert on the cell phones of its inhabitants urging them to prepare to evacuate, giving priority to “the elderly and children”. A similar anti-missile warning was also launched in the Okinawa archipelago in southern Japan. Both alarms have been lifted, but North Korea has assured that it will carry out a new launch “as soon as possible” to put its first military spy satellite into orbit in response to the failure of today’s attempt. Condemnations of Pyongyang’s act have come from the United States and Japan.
The launch of the spy satellite
The “space launch vehicle”, as defined by the official KCNA agency, fell into the Yellow Sea after an “anomalous” flight, reported the military in Seoul. The North has admitted the failure of the initiative, saying that its new ‘Chollima-1’ rocket, carrying the ‘Malligyong-1’ military reconnaissance satellite, ended up in the sea due to “problematic starting of the engine of the second stage”, according to the judgments of an official relaunched by the KCNA. The South Korean Joint Staff Command said it detected the launch from Tongchang-ri, on the north’s west coast, at 6.29 local time (23.29 on Tuesday in Italy) and that “the satellite fell into the waters about 200 kilometers west of Eocheong Island. We are conducting a further analysis in cooperation with the United States,” the Command said in a statement. Yesterday, North Korea announced that it would launch its first “military reconnaissance satellite” in June, with the aim of monitoring the activities of the US and South Korean armed forces in real time, while Japan had ordered to shoot down any missile that might fall on its territory or in its maritime space.
The alarm in Okinawa
Shortly after the launch, Japanese authorities issued an alert in Okinawa prefecture through the J-Alerts system, warning people to seek refuge inside shelters or underground. The sirens stopped after about 30 minutes. “Missile launch. Missile launch. North Korea appears to have launched a missile. “Take refuge inside buildings or underground,” read the warning addressed to Okinawans and released by the Japanese prime minister’s office via Twitter and the national channel NHK The government then lifted the alert after 30 minutes.
The reactions of the United States and Japan
The United States condemned North Korea’s launch as a “violation of several UN Security Council resolutions, increases tensions and risks destabilizing the situation in the region,” the National Security Council spokesman said. Bianca, Adam Hodge. The latter also underlined that “the door is not closed for diplomacy but North Korea must immediately cease its provocative actions and choose to engage”. Japanese premier Fumio Kishida instead told the media that the government is collecting information on the launch of the missile carried out by Pyongyang and that there are no reports of damage to property or people on the national territory. Cabinet Chief Hirozaku Matsuno said the executive had filed a formal protest with North Korea, reiterating that the latest attempt violates UN Security Council resolutions.
Source-tg24.sky.it