June 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The South Korean Army has announced this Friday that it has recovered the remains of the satellite launched by Pyongyang at the end of May and which fell into the Yellow Sea due to a technical failure, concluding the rescue work.
The operation has been determined by a series of complications, including inclement weather, which forced the stoppage of work due to rapid currents and lack of underwater visibility, reports the Yonhap news agency.
An official from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff has indicated that experts from the Defense Development Agency and other specialists have also participated in the work. “Because of the potential dangers, we had technical advisers on board so we could take the necessary measures while we observed the situation,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Along with this operation, the Army has also carried out a mission that aims to search for other parts of the rocket in order to carry out a thorough investigation of the object and thus obtain information on the progress of North Korea’s missile program.
The South Korean Armed Forces identified the wreckage after falling overboard in the Yellow Sea, saying it fell to the bottom of the sea at a depth of 75 meters, “largely due to its weight.” Concerns were also raised that an explosion could occur if it contained combustible elements.
North Korea launched a rocket carrying military reconnaissance satellites during the last week of May that failed, falling into the Yellow Sea, but which activated evacuation alerts for a few minutes in the South Korean capital, Seoul, and Okinawa prefecture, the northernmost island of the Japanese archipelago.
This launch provoked the condemnation of both the United Nations, NATO or the United States, South Korea and Japan, which denounced such acts and requested the resumption of dialogue to achieve sustainable peace and the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
