The younger sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to launch a military reconnaissance satellite soon, the country's state media reported Thursday, a day after its first attempt at doing so failed.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior official of the Workers' Party of Korea, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, "It is certain" that the satellite "will be correctly put on space orbit in the near future and start its mission."
The statement came as the United States and regional allies Japan and South Korea remained on alert for another attempt by North Korea to launch its first spy satellite.
KCNA also released two photos of what it said was a rocket carrying the satellite lifting off from a launch pad.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the rare photos of the North's failed launch were published in an apparent bid to stress it was not a test of a weapons system.
The launch site in the images was presumed to be a new coastal site located around 3 kilometers from the launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the west coast, the Yonhap report said.
U.S.-based website 38 North, which monitors North Korea, ran a similar assessment.
North Korea said Wednesday its satellite launch failed due to the "low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system." The South Korean military has said the projectile was a long-range ballistic missile.
An official from the South Korean military said Thursday that part of the projectile fired by the North fell into the Yellow Sea and sunk to a depth of 75 meters.
The Navy is continuing its operation to salvage the part, which is about 15-meter-long with a diameter of about 2-3 meters, the official said.
The statement came as the United States and regional allies Japan and South Korea remained on alert for another attempt by North Korea to launch its first spy satellite.
KCNA also released two photos of what it said was a rocket carrying the satellite lifting off from a launch pad.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the rare photos of the North's failed launch were published in an apparent bid to stress it was not a test of a weapons system.
The launch site in the images was presumed to be a new coastal site located around 3 kilometers from the launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground on the west coast, the Yonhap report said.
U.S.-based website 38 North, which monitors North Korea, ran a similar assessment.
North Korea said Wednesday its satellite launch failed due to the "low reliability and stability of the new-type engine system." The South Korean military has said the projectile was a long-range ballistic missile.
An official from the South Korean military said Thursday that part of the projectile fired by the North fell into the Yellow Sea and sunk to a depth of 75 meters.
The Navy is continuing its operation to salvage the part, which is about 15-meter-long with a diameter of about 2-3 meters, the official said.
Related coverage:
North Korean launch of "spy satellite" fails due to rocket trouble
North Korea says "reconnaissance satellite" to be launched in June
