The United States criticized North Korea’s failed launch of a space rocket that the White House said “used ballistic missile technology.”
“This alleged space launch involved technologies directly related to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s intercontinental ballistic missile program,” Adam Hodge, a spokesman for the government’s National Security Council, said in a statement.
North Korea reported that the space rocket it launched this Wednesday morning -Tuesday night in the US- with a reconnaissance satellite on board has crashed into the Yellow Sea due to a technical failure and that it will try again soon another release of this type.
The North Korean launch caused the activation of anti-missile alerts in Seoul, South Korea, and in the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, where the projectile would have flown over, urging the possible evacuation of citizens.
Seoul and Tokyo, which called emergency meetings to analyze the situation, have denounced that the launch would actually be a covert test to test ballistic missile technology, something that is punishable by the UN sanctions that weigh on Pyongyang.
In its statement, the White House assured that the US president, Joe Biden, is monitoring the situation together with his national security team.
In addition, he encouraged other countries to condemn the launch and called on the North Korean authorities to “cease their provocations” and participate in a diplomatic dialogue to reduce tension.
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