< Anchor>

It was a day when I was really embarrassed by the sudden warning from early in the morning. North Korea launched a space launch vehicle carrying a reconnaissance satellite from the Tongchang-ri launch site this morning (31st). However, the projectile did not fly as North Korea had thought and eventually crashed into the West Sea.

First up today, this is reporter Hong Young-jae.

<Reporter>
At 6:29 a.m.
today, North Korea launched a space launch vehicle from the West Sea Satellite Launch Site in Dongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province.

Three minutes after the launch, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea had launched a space launch vehicle in a southerly direction, and that the launch vehicle had passed over the sea far west of Baeknyeong Island.

However, the projectile could not fly farther and fell over the sea.

[Lee Kwang-sup, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff's Operations 1st Division: The projectile passed over the far sea west of Baeknyeong Island and fell in an abnormal flight about 3 kilometers west of Euchung Island.]

The projectile fell short of the expected drop point of the first stage propellant, which North Korea had previously notified the Japan Sea Security Agency.

Radars of various detection assets, including Aegis ships deployed in the East Sea and the West Sea, also detected North Korean projectiles in real time, but they reportedly disappeared abruptly during the flight.

The National Intelligence Service cited North Korea's hasty decision to launch the Nuri after the successful launch of the launch site when the construction of the launch site had not been completed as the reason for the failure.

He also said that a viewing facility had been identified near the launch site, and it was assumed that General Secretary Kim Jong Un had been on site.

Ri Pyong-ch'ol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of North Korea, mentioned the launch in June, but the military reportedly learned yesterday afternoon that it was already ready for the launch and began preparations.

In this regard, an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff assessed that the normal procedures for transporting the launch vehicle, assembling it, and standing the launch pad are "faster than in the past."

(Video Interview: Hwang In-seok, Video Editing: Kim Jun-hee, CG: Jegal Chan, Lim Chan-hyuk, Son Seung-pil)

▶ "Two-stage rocket failure" North admits failure..."Second launch in a short period of time"
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