North Korea spy satellite launch fails as Chollima-1 rocket falls into the sea

Subject : International Relations

Section: International events

Concept :

North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite into space failed in a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to boost his military capabilities as tensions with the United States and South Korea rise.
After an unusually quick admission of failure, North Korea vowed to conduct a second launch after it learns what went wrong. It suggests Kim remains determined to expand his weapons arsenal and apply more pressure on Washington and Seoul while diplomacy is stalled.
A satellite launch by North Korea is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the country from conducting any launch based on ballistic technology.
The newly developed Chollima-1 rocket was launched at the North’s Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in the northwest, carrying the Malligyong-1 satellite. The rocket crashed off the Korean Peninsula’s western coast after it lost thrust following the separation of its first and second stages.

38th Parallel Line :

The 38th parallel is a circle of latitude 38 degrees north of the equatorial plane.
This line divides the Korean peninsula roughly in half (leaving about 56% of Korean territory on the northern side).
38th parallel, popular name given to latitude 38° N that in East Asia roughly demarcates North Korea and South Korea.
The line was chosen by U.S. military planners at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945) near the end of World War II as an army boundary, north of which the U.S.S.R
The actual border between North and South Korea slants across this circle of latitude, finishing some distance north of it on the east coast.