North Korea confirms rocket failure launch following mid-air explosion

Beijing, Apr 13 (ANI): The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday confirmed the failed launch of the 'satellite' which it fired Friday morning and announced that the rocket did not enter the preset orbit.

Seoul's Defence Ministry in its statement said that the North Korea's rocket flew for about one or two minutes before it exploded mid-air, splashing down in the Yellow Sea of South Korea, News.com.au reports.

The explosion has caused wide concern and the KCTV, DPRK's official TV, said and the country is looking for possible reasons.

According to the China Daily, the DPRK had decided the launch of the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite in the face of strong international criticism, between April 12 and 16, to mark the 100th birthday of the late leader Kim Il-Sung, who is the founder of the nation.

Japan's Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka confirmed that there was no impact on Japanese territory from the launch. "We have confirmed that a certain flying object has been launched and fell after flying for just over a minute," he clarified, not mentioning what object exactly was launched.

South Korea has dispatched two warships and helicopters to the area, where the rocket is believed to have crashed, and are attempting to locate and recover debris that will enable them to determine more about North Korea's missile capabilities.

Space Policy Expert with Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, Yuri Karash, predicted that the rocket may have exploded when it reached its second stage and caught fire, while some analysts claimed that the rocket might have failed before its first and second stage got separated.

"Rockery launching is something that needs practical experience, and you have to shoot on a regular basis, but DPRK lacks such experience," Karash said referring to the previous two failures by DPRK in 1998 and 2009.(ANI)