North Korea’s Failed Launch of Military Spy Satellite Sparks Alarm Among Neighbors

North Korea’s first attempt to launch a military spy satellite ended in failure on Tuesday, according to a statement from the National Security Council. The Chollima-1 rocket, carrying the Malligyong-1 spy satellite, was launched from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at 6:27 a.m. local time (5:27 p.m. ET Tuesday). However, the rocket crashed into waters off the Korean Peninsula’s western coast shortly after launch.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister and senior aid of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, condemned the international community’s reaction to the launch, claiming that if North Korea’s satellite launch should be particularly censured, the U.S. and all other countries, which have already launched thousands of satellites, should be denounced.

The attempted launch sparked alarm among North Korea’s neighbors, with rare emergency alerts and evacuation warnings rattling people in South Korea and Japan. It was an unusually frank acknowledgment of failure by Kim Jong Un’s regime, and the failed launch is a blow to the nuclear-armed state’s efforts to strengthen its military capabilities amid growing tensions with its neighbors and the United States.

The international community is closely monitoring the situation, and the United Nations Security Council is expected to meet to discuss the matter. North Korea has yet to comment on the failed launch, and it is unclear if the country will attempt to launch another satellite in the near future.