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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired a long-range rocket Friday morning, but the launch appears to have ended in failure, the South Korean defense ministry said.
The Unha-3 rocket dropped several minutes after taking off from the Tongchang-ri launch site at 7:39 am (2239 GMT), the ministry said, adding the rocket broke into several pieces before falling into the sea.
Reports say the rocket seemed to have landed in waters some 200 kilometers off South Korea's western port city of Gunsan.
The DPRK announced last month it would launch the rocket-mounted Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite between April 12 and 16 to mark the centenary of late DPRK founder Kim Il-sung's birth.
Seoul and Washington, among others, see it as a disguised long-range ballistic missile test that violates a UN Security Council resolution.
Seoul and Tokyo have said they will shoot down the rocket if it strays into their territories, while Pyongyang warned of "merciless punishment" for such attempts.
Japan says rocket falls after lift-off
Japanese Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said Friday the rocket that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) launched on Friday morning fell into sea after flying for more than a minute.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura told reporters at an emergency press conference Friday morning that Japan has suffered "no impact of falling objects" from the launch, and the government will hold a meeting to discuss the situation immediately.
"We believe there has been no impact of falling objects" on Japan, Fujimura said at the press conference after it confirmed the launch, and said, "I would like the public to stay calm."
The rocket may have split into 4 parts which fell into the Yellow Sea after reaching 120 km high, local media reported.
But there have been no reports of damage in Japan after the DPRK rocket launch, said Fujimura.
Japan had stayed alert over DPRK's planned rocket launch on Friday.It was the second day of a five-day window Pyongyang had planned for the launch.
The Japanese Self-Defense Forces have been on standby since Thursday, prior to DPRK's indicated time window for the launch from 7 am to noon from Thursday to next Monday.
So far, the DPRK has neither confirmed nor denied the launch.
US media says DPRK rocket launch "failed"
US media on Thursday evening quoted official sources as saying rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has failed.
CNN quoted US officials as saying the launch failed. The report said the rocket did ignite, but it wasn't a success, and the report said it might disintegrated. |
