North Korean spy satellite launch fails as South Koreans woken by air raid siren and told to evacuate in 'false alarm'

31 May 2023, 06:20

The North Korean rocket launch failed
The North Korean rocket launch failed. Picture: Getty

By Kit Heren

North Korea failed in its attempt to launch the country's first spy satellite into space on Wednesday.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The satellite, which the rogue state said it would use to monitor US military activity, will be followed by a second launch after an investigation, North Korea said.

The failure was a setback to leader Kim Jong Un's push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea rise.

A satellite launch by North Korea is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban the country from conducting any launch based on ballistic technology.

The launch also caused a false alarm in Seoul, the capital of neighbouring South Korea. Residents of the Japanese city of Okinawa were also given a warning.

Listen and subscribe to Unprecedented: Inside Downing Street on Global Player

The satellite crashed into the sea after launch
The satellite crashed into the sea after launch. Picture: Getty

Seoul residents were woken by an air raid siren and an emergency message telling them to get ready for an evacuation.

But they were told that it was an error just 20 minutes later.

Seoul mayor Oh Se-hoon admitted the emergency text "may have been an overreaction". But "there can be no compromise on safety," he added.

Read more: North Korea bans birthday parties and hair dyes as fanatical groups clamp down on 'foreign influence'

Read more: North Korea fires longest-range ballistic missile over Japan forcing authorities to tell residents to 'take cover'

The satellite launch suggests Mr Kim remains determined to expand his weapons arsenal to apply more pressure on Washington and Seoul while diplomacy is stalled.

Observers say North Korea's previous satellite launches helped improve its long-range missile technology, though the latest launch likely was more focused on deploying a spy satellite.

North Korea said it wanted to monitor the US' military activities
North Korea said it wanted to monitor the US' military activities. Picture: Getty

North Korea has already shown it may have the ability to strike all of the US mainland after years of intercontinental ballistic missile tests.

The newly developed Chollima-1 rocket, which was carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite, was launched at 6.37am local time at the North's Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in the northwest.

The rocket crashed off the Korean Peninsula's western coast after it lost thrust following the separation of its first and second stages, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said.

North Korea says it tested new solid-fuel long-range missile

It said the country's space agency will investigate defects revealed in the launch, take urgent measures to overcome them and conduct the second launch as soon as possible through various part tests.

Wednesday's launch prompted brief evacuation alerts in South Korea and Japan. Seoul's military said it boosted military readiness in coordination with the United States, and Japan said it prepared to respond to any emergency.

South Korea's military said the rocket had "an abnormal flight" before it fell in the waters. Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that no object was believed to have reached space.

Adam Hodge, a spokesperson at the UN National Security Council, said in a statement that Washington strongly condemns the North Korean launch because it used banned ballistic missile technology, raised tensions and risked destabilising security in the region and beyond.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Gemma Southall, 38, last seen in Norwich on Saturday.

Police launch urgent hunt for woman, 38, last seen in pink vest and flip flops missing since Saturday

Dame Judi Dench played M in several James Bond films

Who is Blaise Metreweli - the real life M and first female head of MI6?

British Prime Minister Kier Starmer arrives at Calgary International Airport, Sunday,June, 15, 2025, ahead of the G7 Summit.

Starmer threatens Putin with more sanctions if Russia resits ceasefire calls

Exclusive
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds was flummoxed by questions about the Lower Thames crossing

Treasury minister unable to answer basic questions on £10bn infrastructure project in car crash LBC interview

Belinda Taylor, left, and Adam Harrison, right, died during a tandem jump on Friday.

Tributes pour in for 'selfless' mother-of-four and 'wonderful' skydiving instructor who died during tandem jump

An Air India flight takes off.

Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner flight forced to turn back with 'technical issue'

NATO Scramble RAF Typhoons Four Times In Seven Days To Intercept Russian Aircraft

RAF fighter jets scrambled six days in a row as fifteen Russian military aircraft intercepted

J.J. Spaun holds the U.S. Open trophy

JJ Spaun hails 'fairytale' victory as Robert MacIntyre’s US Open dream crushed

The trilateral Aukus partnership, believed to be aimed at countering China, involves building a new fleet of nuclear-powered attack submarines and co-operating in other areas of defence

Starmer has 'no doubt' Trump will back Aukus submarine deal despite ‘America First’ review

Falmouth youth fights for Transgender rights as Section 35 enacted repealing a Scottish Bill that would benefit the transgender community

Nearly 10,000 gender certificates granted as Gen Z applications soar

Israeli security personnel and first responders inspect an area hit by an Iranian missile strike on central Tel Aviv.

Israel-Iran LIVE: At least five dead and 287 injured in latest strikes on Tel Aviv as fighting enters its fourth day

Seven men who groomed two vulnerable teenage girls in Rochdale were found guilty of multiple offences last week

Starmer calls in 'Britain's FBI' to investigate grooming gangs after U-turn on national inquiry

Vance Boelter, 57, is suspected of fatally shooting the Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark

Man suspected of shooting Minnesota politicians in 'targeted assassination' arrested after two-day manhunt

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Haifa, in northern Israel, on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Rami Shlush)

UK warns against all travel to Israel as missile strikes continue into third night

Sources told US media that Israel had briefed the Trump administration on a covert operation to target Iran’s top political figure

Donald Trump rejected Israeli plan to kill Iran’s Khamenei amid spiralling Middle East tensions

A third of children’s sunglasses bought from online marketplaces including Amazon, AliExpress, Ebay and Temu do not provide the required protection and are unsafe, according to a Which? investigation.

Third of sunglasses sold online pose risk to children’s eyesight, Which? says