North Korea says spy satellite ‘crashed into sea’

Seoul, May 31 (AFP/APP):North Korea launched a military spy satellite Wednesday, but it crashed into the sea soon after as an “accident occurred” during its flight, state media said.

Pyongyang does not have a functioning satellite in space and leader Kim Jong Un has made developing a military spy satellite a top priority for his regime, personally overseeing some launch preparations.

North Korean space authorities “launched a military reconnaissance satellite, ‘Malligyong-1’, mounted on a new-type carrier rocket, ‘Chollima-1’, at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan County of North Phyongan Province at 6:27 on May 31,” the official Korean Central News Agency reported.

But the rocket crashed into the sea “after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine after the separation of the first stage during the normal flight,” it said.