(LEAD) N. Korea says 2nd attempt to launch spy satellite fails: state media

▲ This file photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 1, 2023, shows the launch of the North's new Chollima-1 rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)

(LEAD) N Korea-spy satellite

(LEAD) N. Korea says 2nd attempt to launch spy satellite fails: state media

(ATTN: ADDS details, byline)

By Lee Minji

SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Thursday its second attempt to launch a spy satellite has ended in failure, citing "an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight."

Pyongyang said it launched the spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, but that it failed due to a problem that is "not a big issue in aspect of the reliability of cascade engines and the system," according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea's national aerospace agency plans to probe the cause behind the emergency blasting system malfunction and once again attempt to put a satellite into orbit in October, the KCNA said.

Thursday's launch, conducted at the Sohae satellite launching station, came roughly three months after Pyongyang's first spy satellite launch ended in failure in late May.

In a key party meeting held in June, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, the North called the botched attempt the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half that "cannot be overlooked."

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