The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced Friday that South Korea recovered a rocket part from North Korea’s failed military satellite launch last month.
The declaration came two weeks after North Korea failed to launch its first spy satellite, which crashed into the sea.
The military claimed the debris was rescued on Thursday evening from the seabed some 75 meters (246 feet) below the ocean off the West coast. The hunt proceeded for more fragments from what the North called a space launch vehicle.
South Korea had already collected smaller debris following the launch. The military sent ten warships and dozens of deep-sea divers because of a heavy tide and poor visibility.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff released photos of a big cylindrical object designated “Chonma,” Korean for the winged horse. North Korea called the missile “Chollima-1.”
“The salvaged object will be thoroughly analysed in cooperation with the United States,” it stated.
Lee Jong-sup, South Korea’s Defence Minister, said the debris seemed to be the rocket’s second stage and that the military will continue searching for the cargo and third stage.
South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute honorary research fellow Lee Choon-Geun said the freshly found object looked like a fuel tank.
He claimed the military might learn about North Korea’s new rocket engine, designed to create more thrust at higher altitudes, if they find an engine on the tank.
The debris may reveal North Korea’s technical development of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capacity and whether it bought components outside in violation of sanctions, according to Korea Aerospace University professor Chang Young-Keun.
“This is important data,” Chang remarked.
South Korea reported that Chinese warships had salvaged the North Korean missile in the waters where it crashed, but it was unclear if they were still searching.
Seoul and Washington called the launch a provocation and breach of U.N. Security Council resolutions barring the North’s ballistic missile technology.
Pyongyang warned it would launch again to resist U.S. “aggression” in space.
The USS Michigan, a guided-missile submarine, returned to South Korea on Friday for collaborative special warfare exercises to improve North Korean response.
North Korea fired two short-range missiles off its east coast on Thursday and threatened an “inevitable” reaction to South Korea-U.S. military maneuvers, prompting the submarine’s deployment.
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