June 16, 2023 12:56
South Korea has retrieved part of a North Korean space rocket that sank in the West Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday.
The wreckage was raised at around 9 p.m. Thursday after about two weeks of salvage operation that were hampered by strong currents and poor visibility.
The JCS hopes that analysis of the wreckage will make it possible to figure out North's level of satellite and intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
The North fired the rocket carrying a purported military spy satellite on May 31, but it crashed into waters about 200 km west of Eocheong Island. The South Korean military found the cylindrical object which is presumed to be the first or second stage of the rocket the same day, but during a salvage operation, it slipped into a deep trench.
The salvaged wreckage will be transported to the Second Naval Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province for investigation alongside the U.S.
The search for additional debris continues.
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