North launches ‘space launch vehicle,’ warnings mistakenly sent to Seoul residents
Air raid sirens sounded across Seoul Wednesday morning as an emergency alert was mistakenly sent to residents after South Korean military authorities detected the launch of a North Korean space launch vehicle (SLV), which they later said flew west of the peninsula.
The initial warning, sent at 6:32 a.m., advised residents of Seoul to seek shelter, warning them that the North had launched a SLV in the direction of the South, according to the message sent by the government’s emergency communications system.
An SLV is a missile-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload, such as a satellite, from the surface of the Earth to outer space.
But it was a false alert, with the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) saying that the North Korean SLV actually flew west in the direction of the Yellow Sea.
A second alert sent via the emergency communications system at 6:41 a.m. rescinded the earlier warning, saying it was “sent in error.”
North Korean state media earlier reported that the regime plans to launch its first military reconnaissance satellite within two weeks to monitor “dangerous” military activity by the United States and South Korea.
In an English-language statement carried by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday, Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the ruling Worker’s Party Central Military Commission, said Pyongyang’s planned satellite launch an “indispensable” step to strengthen its self-defense capabilities.
The statement was released the same day the North notified the International Maritime Organization that it plans to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]