Pres. Office Holds Security Meeting following N. Korea’s Satellite Launch

The presidential office held a security meeting on Monday soon after North Korea launched a military reconnaissance satellite, which failed due to a midair explosion that occurred shortly after liftoff. 

The top office said in a press release that the South Korean military detected the North’s launch of the so-called military spy satellite at 10:44 p.m. Monday and the National Security Office briefed President Yoon Suk Yeol right after the launch. 

The presidential office then held a security meeting chaired by National Security Advisor Chang Ho-jin at around 11:40 p.m., where the participants were briefed on launch by the Joint Chiefs of Staff(JCS) Chairman Kim Myung-soo and discussed response measures. 

The participants at the meeting condemned the launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and a provocative act that threatens peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, in Northeast Asia and in the international community.

The JCS said the military detected the launch at around 10:44 p.m. and the projectile was detected as multiple fragments in North Korean waters two minutes after it was fired.