Anchor: North Korea launched a military spy satellite late Tuesday night despite repeated warnings from South Korea and the U.S. against such a provocation. With the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff issuing a confirmation shortly after the launch, Seoul in response decided to partially suspend its military pact with the North.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff detected North Korea's military satellite launch at around 10:43 p.m. Tuesday.

The launch came an hour earlier than the previously declared window between Wednesday and the end of the month, which Pyongyang provided to the Maritime Safety Agency of Japan.

Fired from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station on the North's western coast, the launch vehicle flew over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and China, forcing Japan to issue a missile warning for the island of Okinawa.

Shortly after the launch, the South Korean National Security Council(NSC) held an emergency meeting presided over remotely by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is in Britain for a state visit.

The NSC decided to partially suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military accord, signed during the brief détente, to reactivate aerial reconnaissance activities along the border.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are analyzing the details of the projectile. It is not immediately certain if the launch was successful in terms of placing the payload into the intended orbit.

The North attempted to launch a military spy satellite in May and in August this year, which both ended in failure.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said earlier this month that the regime would carry out its third launch with Russian assistance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had hinted that he would help Pyongyang with its satellite program during his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in September.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : YONHAP News]