Top North Korean officials vowed to push for a second attempt to launch a spy satellite as they called their country's first, and failed, launch last month "the most serious" shortcoming this year and harshly criticized those responsible, state media reported Monday. In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite crashed soon after liftoff, reports the AP, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un's push to acquire a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the United States and South Korea. The failed launch and North Korean efforts to modernize its weapons arsenal were discussed extensively at a three-day ruling party meeting that ended Sunday, with the presence of Kim and other top officials.
A lengthy Korean Central News Agency dispatch didn't clearly say who spoke, but indicated a report to the meeting "bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly conducted the preparations for [the] satellite launch." The report set forth tasks for officials and scientists to learn the lessons of the failed launch, find what caused the rocket's crash, and make a successful launch in a short span of time, KCNA said.
It didn't say exactly when North Korea might attempt a second launch. But South Korea's spy agency earlier told lawmakers that it would likely take "more than several weeks" for North Korea to determine what went wrong in the failed launch. North Korea monitoring groups haven't reported any purges or dismissals of scientists or others involved in the failed launch.
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It's virtually impossible to verify the claims by the North, one of the most secretive countries in the world. KCNA didn't say whether Kim spoke during the plenary meeting of the Workers' Party Central Committee. Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry, said it would be highly unusual for Kim to sit through such a high-profile party meeting without a public speech. Koo said the apparent lack of a Kim speech might stem from the satellite launch failure and North Korea's lack of economic achievements. (More North Korea stories.)
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