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North Korea on Sunday launched a rocket but failed to put a satellite into orbit as announced. The long-range rocket took off from Musudan-ri, North Hamgyong Province at 11:30 a.m.
Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told the National Assembly's Defense Committee, "Based on what we've observed so far, we think that all of the first through third-stage booster rockets fell into the water. Nothing was boosted into orbit. So we judge that North Korea failed to put the satellite into orbit." He added the first-stage booster rocket fell near the target point, the second-stage rocket fell short of the target point and it will have to be confirmed what happened to the third stage.
But a senior Foreign Ministry official said it has not been confirmed whether the second and third-stage rockets of the projectile separated. And another ministry official said, "It seems the second and third-stage rockets separated but fell not far from each other."
Either would mean that North Korea succeeded in lengthening the range of its ballistic missile but it still has to overcome obstacle to produce a real intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,500 km.
South Korean and U.S. intelligence said the first-stage rocket fell into the East Sea about 500 km from the launch site and the second-stage rocket into the Pacific about 3,200 km away.
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An image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il published Saturday by the official Korean Central News Agency, a day before North Korea's rocket launch /Yonhap
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When North Korea tested a Taepodong-1 in August 1998, the first and second-stage rockets flew normally but it also failed to put a small satellite into orbit by way of the third stage.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, which were keeping track of the North's rocket, said no object was put into orbit nor did any fragments fall over Japan.
But North Korea claimed success. The official KCNA news agency in the afternoon claimed that the three-stage Unha-2 rocket was launched at 11:20 a.m. and put the Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, into orbit nine minutes and two seconds later.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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