South Korea retrieves wreckage of crashed North Korean spy satellite

By Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) — South Korea Wednesday said it successfully recovered wreckage from a North Korean spy satellite and determined that it has "no military value."

The operation, which lasted 36 days, aimed to salvage the debris from a failed North Korean space rocket launched in late May, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.

On May 31, Pyongyang unsuccessfully launched a new Chollima-1 rocket, carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite. It, however, crashed into the sea.

The JCS said that key parts of the rocket and satellite were retrieved from the Yellow Sea during the search and salvage operation conducted from May 31 until Wednesday.

"The United States collaborated with South Korea to examine and analyze the recovered items," the JCS said.

"After a thorough analysis by South Korean and US experts, we have concluded that the satellite has no military application as a reconnaissance satellite," it added.

The JCS, however, did not disclose specific findings from the analysis of the wreckage or release any photos of the retrieved satellite parts.

"Our military has demonstrated exceptional operational capabilities by recovering multiple parts of the wreckage despite the challenging operational environment," stated the JCS.

Shortly after the failed launch, North Korea acknowledged that the rocket had crashed into the sea due to an abnormality in the second-stage engine ignition.