On April 8, 2012, North Korean technicians inspected the Unha-3 rocket at the Sohae Satellite Launch Station in Dongchangri.
Pedro Ugarte | AFP | Getty Images
North Korea fired an unidentified missile on a southern path near its west coast on Monday, South Korea’s military said, hours after Pyongyang said it would launch a satellite sometime before June 4.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch appeared to have originated from the North’s northwestern region of Dongchang, where the country’s main space flight center is located.
Japan’s government on Monday issued an emergency warning to southern residents to avoid possible threats posed by North Korean missiles, before lifting the warning and saying it did not expect the missile to fly over Japanese territory.
Japan said through its J-Alert broadcast system that North Korea appeared to have launched a missile, warning residents of southern Okinawa prefecture.
North Korea notified Japan earlier in the day that it planned to launch a satellite between May 27 and June 4.
The launch was likely an attempt by nuclear-armed North Korea to put a second spy satellite into orbit. After several failed attempts that ended with the rocket crashing, North Korea successfully put the first such satellite into orbit in November.
Footage broadcast by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed an orange dot flying into the night sky before suddenly bursting into flames near the border between China and North Korea.
According to NHK, a Japanese Defense Ministry official told reporters that the color of the flames in the video showed that liquid fuel may be burning, but the details are currently being analyzed.
Northern’s first satellite “alive”
South Korea’s military said on Friday it had detected signs of possible launch preparations at North Korea’s Dongchang-ri launch site.
In February, US space experts said North Korea’s first spy satellite, Malligyong-1, was “alive” as detection of changes in its orbit suggested Pyongyang had successfully taken control of the spacecraft – although its capabilities remain unknown.
North Korean state media reported that the satellite transmitted photos of areas such as the Pentagon and the White House, but no images have been released.
November’s successful launch was the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made a rare trip to Russia’s most modern space launch center in September, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to help Pyongyang build satellites.
Neither country has detailed the scope of future aid, which could violate U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting North Korea.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed senior South Korean defense official as saying that Russian experts had visited North Korea to help with its satellite and space rocket programs.
Pyongyang says it needs a military reconnaissance satellite to increase monitoring of U.S. and South Korean military activities.
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