DPRK's second attempt for reconnaissance satellite launch fails: KCNA

SEOUL -- The second attempt for reconnaissance satellite launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) failed on Thursday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

The flights of the first and second stages of the rocket were normal, but the launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight, the KCNA reported.

The DPRK's National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) conducted the second launch of reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 aboard the new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1 at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground, in Cholsan County of North Phyongan Province, at dawn on Thursday, according to the KCNA.

The NADA said it would make a thorough investigation into the accident, and would conduct the third reconnaissance satellite launch in October.

The failed launch came a few months after the DPRK suffered an accident when the country made its first attempt to put a reconnaissance satellite into orbit in late May.

At a plenary meeting of its Central Committee in mid-June, the Workers' Party of Korea stressed that military reconnaissance satellite is of great significance for the development prospects of the DPRK's armed forces and their combat readiness, according to a previous KCNA report.