North Korea says second spy satellite launch failed

North Korea said its second attempt to launch a spy satellite from the Sohae satellite launching station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan, ended in a failure Thursday.

North Korea launches a newly-developed Chollima-1 rocket carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite from the Sohae satellite launching site in North Pyongan Province on May 31, as seen in a photo released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. It made a second launch Thursday which ended in failture.[YONHAP]

North Korea said its second attempt to launch a spy satellite from the Sohae satellite launching station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, ended in failure Thursday.

Pyongyang said it launched a reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a "new-type" Chollima-1 rocket early Thursday, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Earlier, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch of North Korea's space launch vehicle from the Tongchang-ri area in North Pyongan Province at around 3:50 a.m. and that the projectile flew over international waters west of Ieodo, submerged reefs south of Jeju Island.

The KCNA claimed that the launch conducted by the National Aerospace Development Administration "failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight."

The report added that the cause of the accident was "not a big problem" regarding the "reliability of cascade engines and the system."

North Korea said it plans to conduct a third reconnaissance satellite launch in October "after thoroughly probing the reason and taking measures" following its second failed launch.

On Tuesday, North Korea notified Japan's coast guard of its intention to launch a satellite between Aug. 24 and Aug. 31 after a botched launch in May.

Pyongyang designated three maritime danger zones that could be affected by the planned satellite launch: around the Yellow Sea, southwest of North Korea, in the East China Sea and a third area east of the Philippine island of Luzon.

On May 31, a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite crashed into the Yellow Sea shortly after liftoff due to engine failure. North Korea made a rare acknowledgment of failure, saying that the launch of its new Chollima-1 satellite launch rocket had crashed because of instability in the engine and fuel system, vowing that a second attempt would be made "soon."

The JCS said in a statement Thursday that the South Korean military is maintaining a "full readiness posture" in close cooperation with the United States.

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the National Security Council (NSC), which convened a meeting Thursday morning, to share details of its analysis of North Korea's failed satellite launch with the United States and Japan and to prepare for possible additional provocations by the North, the presidential office said.

The NSC, led by National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong, "strongly condemned the launch as a grave violation of the UN Security Council resolutions banning any launches by North Korea using ballistic missile technology."

The North's latest satellite launch came amid Seoul and Washington's annual joint military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Shield.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]