North Korea called its failed attempt to launch a purported military reconnaissance satellite as the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half of this year, reaffirming its pledge to put it into orbit soon, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.
The assessment came at the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea that wrapped up on Sunday referred to the North's attempt to launch a rocket carrying a military spy satellite on May 31.
The "Chollima-1" rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1," crashed into the Yellow Sea.
"The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch, citing the failure as among the "shortcomings that cannot be overlooked."
The North has pledged to put the satellite into orbit soon.
Source: Yonhap News Agency