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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has condemned North Korea’s attempted spy satellite launch, which ended in failure for the second time. Kishida stated that no object was successfully launched into Earth’s orbit and called it a failure. He also criticized North Korea’s behavior as a violation of UN resolutions and said that Japan is firmly protesting against it.

This latest launch comes just months after Pyongyang’s first attempt, which also crashed shortly after takeoff. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un considers the development of a military satellite as crucial for maintaining a balance of power against the US forces in the region.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration conducted the failed launch due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight. However, they dismissed the issue as not significant and vowed to make a third attempt in October.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launch of the purported space rocket, which flew through international airspace over the Yellow Sea. South Korea condemned both the recent launch and the previous attempt in May, criticizing North Korea’s reckless provocations while blaming lower officials for their country’s economic situation.

Japan was the first to signal the launch, calling it “extremely problematic” and issuing a warning to residents of the southern Okinawa region to take cover. This prompted Japan to mobilize ships and its missile defense system.

The launch took place after the leaders of the United States, South Korea, and Japan met at Camp David. It also coincided with the start of the annual US-South Korea joint military drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, which have previously been targeted by North Korean hackers.

Although the failure of the launch was not entirely unexpected, experts believe that North Korea will continue to iterate and eventually succeed. They compare the situation to early US rocket failures, which eventually led to success. Diplomacy between the two Koreas remains stalled, and tensions are high as Kim Jong Un has declared North Korea an “irreversible” nuclear power and called for increased arms production.

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