S. Korea, U.S. say North Korea failed to orbit satellite

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea failed to send a satellite into space, South Korea and the United States said Sunday, declaring no object entered orbit.

North Korea said earlier in the day that it has succeeded in orbiting a
communications satellite after launching a rocket from a launch pad on its east
coast.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee disputed the claim, telling a National
Assembly hearing that the three-stage rocket failed to put anything in orbit.
"All three stages are believed to have fallen into the ocean," Lee said, while a
U.S. military command in Colorado said separately on its Web site that "no object
entered orbit."
"The payload itself landed in the Pacific Ocean," the U.S. Northern Command said,
adding it has "assessed the space launch vehicle as not a threat to North America
or Hawaii."
Lee said the first stage reached its intended destination even though the second
stage came short of arriving at its target point.
"We have yet to find out where the third stage landed," Lee said.
The U.S. command said that the first stage of the rocket fell into the East Sea
while the last two stages tumbled into the Pacific Ocean.
It did not disclose coordinates, only adding, "no debris fell on Japan."
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have warned the launch would prompt sanctions on
North Korea because the rocket launch is believed to be a banned test of
ballistic missile technology.
North Korea claimed it has lifted the "communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2"
into space.
Its rocket "Unha-2" blasted off at 11:20 a.m. and orbited the satellite 2 seconds
past 11:29 a.m., its official media reported.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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