2023-05-31 07:35:52
The shooting caused confusion in Japan and Seoul. North Korea announced on Wednesday that it had attempted to launch a ” military reconnaissance satellite » before it sinks « into the sea ». How to explain this failure? And what reactions did it elicit within the international community? Back to the latest events.
What happened ?
Pyongyang announced on Tuesday that it would put a spy satellite into orbit in order to “confront the dangerous military actions of the United States and its vassals”. But the attempt ended in failure: a “Cheollima-1 satellite carrier rocket crashed into the West Sea”, the Korean name for the Yellow Sea, the news agency said. KCNA State. This fall at sea would be due to a technical problem: a “loss of thrust due to an abnormal start of the second stage engine, after the separation of the first stage during a normal flight”, added the agency.
The projectile “quickly disappeared from radar before reaching its expected point of fall”, for its part, explained from the South Korean army quoted by the Yonhap agency. The South Korean army has released images of the debris of the satellite and its launcher which it says it recovered from the Yellow Sea, 200 km from Eocheong Island, far off the peninsula’s western coast. . These images show a large cylinder-shaped metal structure with some pipes and wires at its end.
What precautions are taken by neighboring countries?
This launch caused some confusion among neighboring countries. Shortly before the shooting, sirens sounded in South Korea, accompanied by a “critical emergency” alert sent by Seoul City Hall at 06:41 (21:41 GMT) accompanied by a thunderous ringtone on all mobile phones in the city. city.
The alert, which urged residents to prepare for an evacuation by putting “children and the elderly first”, was later canceled, with the Home Office citing an error. According to the South Korean military quoted by Yonhap, the rocket never threatened the Seoul metropolitan area.
In Japan, a missile alert had also been issued in the department of Okinawa, in the south of the country, calling on the population to take shelter. It was also lifted by the government, 30 minutes later.
What reactions?
Unsurprisingly, the convictions immediately multiplied. The United States blasted the launch for using “technology from ballistic missiles and “risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond,” pointed out Adam Hodge, spokesman for the US National Security Council.
The announcement of this launch by Pyongyang was also immediately condemned by Japan and South Korea, invoking the United Nations sanctions. These sanctions prohibit North Korea from launching ballistic missiles, which rely on the same technology as space launchers.
“If North Korea does proceed with this launch, it will have to pay the price and bear the suffering it deserves”, had launched the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What context?
From an escalation of tensions since 2019 with its neighborNorth Korea accelerated its military development and declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power through its leader, Kim Jong Un. The latter called for an “exponential” increase in North Korea’s arsenal, including tactical nuclear weapons.
But according to specialists, Pyongyang does not have any satellite in operation, although it has sent five into space. Three launches failed. As for the other two devices, which have probably been put into orbit, no independent organization has ever picked up their signals, suggesting a malfunction.
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