North Korea's Second Spy Satellite Launch Fails

Facts

• On Thursday, North Korea attempted and failed to put a military spy satellite, Malligyong-1, into orbit for the second time in three months.¹
• Malligyong-1's launch reportedly failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third stage of its flight. The country will make a third attempt in October after concluding an investigation into Malligyong-1's failure.²
• As the launch forced residents to take cover indoors in the Okinawa prefecture, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated: "Behaviour like this goes against the UN resolutions, and we're already firmly protesting."³
• The satellite reportedly broke into multiple parts before falling into the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean in the early hours of Thursday.⁴
• The launch of its second spy satellite came three days after the start of US-South Korea joint annual military exercises, which Pyongyang has deemed an invasion rehearsal that increases "the danger of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula."⁵
• While South Korea said the launch defies resolutions prohibiting Pyongyang's ballistic missile testing, the US asked North Korea to refrain from "further threatening activity" and urged the nation to engage in serious diplomacy.⁶

Sources: ¹NK News, ²KCNA Watch, ³BBC News, ⁴CNN, ⁵FOX News, and ⁶Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Time. The development of reconnaissance satellites is essential to North Korea's military strength. With the increasing instability of the Korean Peninsula due to hostile foreign actors, protecting the nation and increasing the power of the state's deterrents is necessary to bolster defense and security.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Economist. While it may claim that military spy satellites are justified and legitimate in defending its sovereignty and security against the US and its allies, the truth is that North Korea is using ballistic missile technology to compete with other growing space powers in the region, and is further fueling instability with provocative escalations.

Predictions