VOA新闻杂志2023--North Korean Spy Satellite Falls into Sea

North Korean Spy Satellite Falls into Sea

North Korea's attempt to put its first military satellite into orbit failed Wednesday. The unsuccessful launch was a setback¹ for leader Kim Jong Un. Kim has pushed to increase his country's military strength with new weapons.

State news agency KCNA said the new "Chollima-1" satellite launch rocket failed because of instability in the engine and fuel system. The launch was North Korea's sixth satellite launch attempt, but its first since 2016.

The launch caused emergency alerts and brief evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan. The warnings were later cancelled with no damage reported.

South Korea's Joint² Chiefs of Staff said the military was carrying out an operation to recover what are believed to be parts of the space launch vehicle. The military shared pictures of a large object floating in the sea about 200 kilometers off the west coast island of Eocheongdo.

George William Herbert of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies is a missile expert. He said the images showed at least part of a rocket, including an "interstage" part designed to connect to another part.

Japan's foreign ministry³ said officials from the United States, Japan, and South Korea held a phone call in which they "strongly condemned⁴" the launch.

North Korea had said it would launch its first military spy satellite between May 31 and June 11 to increase surveillance of U.S. military activities.

The North Korean rocket fell into the sea "after losing thrust due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine," state news reported.

State media said North Korea's National Aerospace⁵ Development Administration said it would investigate the "serious defects" before conducting a second launch as soon as possible.

Leif-Eric Easley is a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. He said it would have been hard for North Korea to hide the failure internationally. But it will likely offer North Korean citizens a different story.

"This outcome also suggests that Pyongyang may stage another provocation⁶ soon, in part to make up for today's setback," Easley added.

The United Nations placed economic sanctions on North Korea over earlier satellite and missile launches and its nuclear program. But the U.N. has not reacted to recent tests. China and Russia have blocked attempts to increase the sanctions. The two nations are permanent Security Council members.

The U.S. said it would take all necessary measures to protect the American homeland and to defend South Korea and Japan.

Ri Pyong Chol is a top North Korean official. On Tuesday, he said the North needs a space-based surveillance system to balance growing security threats from South Korea and the United States.

However, the spy satellite shown earlier in the country's state-run media did not appear to be able to produce high quality images. Some experts said it might be able to observe troop movements and large targets like warships⁷ and warplanes.

Lee Choon Geun is an expert with South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute. He said, with three to five spy satellites, North Korea could build a surveillance system to observe the Korean Peninsula at all times.

The satellite is one of several high-technology weapon systems that Kim has publicly promised. Other weapons include a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear submarine, an intercontinental ballistic missile and a hypersonic missile.

After several failures, North Korea successfully put its first satellite into orbit in 2012 and a second in 2016. The government said both are Earth observation satellites launched under its peaceful space development program. But many foreign experts believe both were developed to spy on other nations.

Observers say there has been no evidence that the satellites have ever sent images back to North Korea.

Words in This Story

instability –n. the state of being likely to change or to perform unpredictably

evacuate⁸ — v. to move people away from an area because of possible danger

surveillance — n. to observe for security or military reasons

thrust –n. force that pushes forward or upward

stage –n. a section of a rocket

defect — n. a problem or fault that something has

provocation — n. an act meant to cause anger, outrage⁹ or distraction¹⁰

make up for –v. (phrasal) to do something in an effort to ease the effect of something else

sanctions — n. (pl.) punishments placed on a country to cause it to obey international law

1 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

5 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

6 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

7 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

8 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。