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FromSven Hauberg
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Another North Korean spy satellite has crashed into the sea after launch. The project is of enormous importance to Kim Jong-un – and despite the false start, it appears to be on the home stretch.
Munich – After the historic Camp David summit between the USA, Japan and South Korea, Kim Jong-un apparently wanted to set an example – and is now facing renewed embarrassment instead: for the second time in just three months, North Korea had to admit the false start of a spy satellite .
According to the state news agency KCNA, the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite was launched early Thursday morning (local time) on board a Chollima-1 launch vehicle. “The flight of the first and second stages of the rocket was normal, but the launch failed due to a failure in the emergency ignition system during flight of the third stage,” writes KCNA, citing North Korea’s national space agency NADA. However, she spoke of “not a big problem”.
NADA will soon provide more details on the failed launch, KCNA said. She plans a third attempt in October – “after she has thoroughly investigated the cause and taken measures”. North Korea’s leadership has described the development of spy satellites in the past as of great importance “in order to be fully prepared for combat operations”. The country presented the first plans for this at the beginning of 2021.
North Korea: Second false launch of a spy satellite in a few months
At the end of May, Pyongyang had to admit the false launch of a spy satellite. According to official information, there were also problems with the launch vehicle Chollima-1, which crashed into the water after launch about 200 kilometers west of the South Korean island of Eocheong. It was the first attempt by Kim Jong-un’s regime to launch a reconnaissance satellite. After the false start, the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party “bitterly” criticized the officials responsible. There are several shortcomings in the expansion of the North Korean armed forces – “the most serious was the failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite,” it said at the time, according to KCNA.
According to the portal NK News Thursday’s false launch was apparently more successful than the first attempt in May, as the launch vehicle flew farther this time. Chang Young-keun from the Korea Aerospace University in Goyang, South Korea, does not believe that the North will suffer too much of a setback either. “The fact that they announced a third launch in October, so pretty soon, could mean that there weren’t any issues with the performance and separation of the first, second and third stage rockets,” Chang told Reuters.
After North Korea’s satellite launch: Japan speaks of “violation of UN resolutions”
South Korea’s chief of staff said after the launch on Thursday that an operation to salvage the remains was underway; In addition, the country’s military is “fully prepared and in close coordination with the United States,” the government’s most important ally in Seoul. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said satellite launch “violates UN resolutions”; his government will “coordinate more closely than ever” with Seoul and Washington. The White House also spoke of a violation of UN regulations on Thursday. The US State Department also asked North Korea to refrain from “further threatening activities”.
The false start comes at a time of rising tensions between North Korea and the US and its allies. Despite massive economic difficulties in his internationally isolated country, dictator Kim Jong-un continues to arm himself and has ICBMs tested regularly, which not only reach South Korea and Japan, but also the entire US mainland. They can also be equipped with nuclear warheads.
USA, Japan and South Korea are moving closer together
Due to the increasing threat from North Korea, Tokyo and Seoul have recently moved closer together, although both states have been in conflict for years due to unresolved Japanese crimes during the occupation of South Korea from 1910 to 1945. US President Biden nevertheless managed to bring his country’s two allies together for the first time in a tripartite summit: Last Friday, Biden, Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met at Camp David, the US President’s country residence, and agreed to intensify cooperation . All sides then spoke of a “historic” meeting that should be followed by others.
North Korea reacted to the new proximity of the three states with saber-rattling. On Tuesday, Pyongyang said the summit and joint military exercises by the US and South Korea represented a new level of escalation. “A thermonuclear war, the first in history, is more than likely on the Korean peninsula,” said a KCNA opinion piece.
List of rubrics: © Lee Jin-man/dpa
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