South Korea Evaluating Whether North Korean “Space Missile” Exploded or Broke Up

Later, North Korea said it had launched a military reconnaissance satellite and that it “crashed into the sea”.

Yonhap quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul as saying, “The (North Korean) projectile disappeared from the radar screens before it reached its expected point of impact,” noting that the army is evaluating the possibility that the missile “exploded in the air or shattered.”“.

And the South Korean army announced on Wednesday morning that North Korea had launched what it described as a “space missile”, in a move that activated for a short time the air attack warning systems in both the capital, Seoul, and the Japanese region of Okinawa..

The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said that Pyongyang launched to the south “what it says is a space launch vehicle“.

For its part, the capital’s authorities issued a warning to the residents via a short text message that they received on their mobile phones, stating, “Citizens, please prepare for evacuation and allow children and the elderly to evacuate first,” while sirens sounded in the center of Seoul..

But the South Korean Interior Ministry was quick to say that “the warning issued by the Seoul city government at 06:41 was issued in error.”“.

In turn, Japan issued a warning to the residents of the southern Okinawa region.

“Rocket launch. Missile launch. North Korea apparently launched a missile. Please take cover indoors or underground,” the prime minister’s office said in a Twitter warning broadcast by public broadcaster NHK.“.

But the Japanese government canceled this warning after 30 minutes, reassuring that all dangers had passed.

“It is expected that the said missile will not reach Japan. The call for evacuation has been cancelled,” the Prime Minister’s Office said on Twitter“.

On Tuesday, North Korea confirmed its intention to launch a satellite for military espionage purposes “to confront the dangerous military moves of the United States and its followers.”“.

Japanese officials said Monday that Pyongyang had told them it would launch a satellite starting this week, warning that they believe Kim Jong-un’s regime is in fact planning to test a ballistic missile in defiance of international sanctions imposed on it..

And on Tuesday, the official North Korean News Agency quoted Ri Pyong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in the ruling party, as saying that the “Military Reconnaissance Satellite No. 1” will be “launched in June” with the aim of “dealing with the dangerous military actions of the United States and its followers.”“.

According to Tokyo, Pyongyang notified the Japanese Coast Guard that it would launch the missile between May 31 and June 11, and that the waters near the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and eastern Luzon Island in the Philippines are therefore considered dangerous areas..

This warning usually means that debris from the missile or some of its layers may fall into these waters.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense ordered the Air Force to destroy any ballistic missile that is sure to fall into Japanese waters..

The ministry said that it would allow its forces to use “SM3” missiles and “Patriot PAK-3” missiles to shoot down medium-altitude missiles..