Seoul, June 19 (EFE).- North Korea concluded the plenary meeting of its single party lamenting the failed May 31 launch of a space rocket with a spy satellite on board and calling for another one as soon as possible, state media reported Monday.
The Politburo of the Workers’ Party expressed its respect for the “advances recognized by the world thanks to the high-level technical military capabilities and the speed of development of weapons systems” of the North Korean strategic forces, in charge of the national missile systems, state news agency KCNA said.
“On the other hand, the failures revealed in some areas and that cannot be ignored were strictly reviewed,” KCNA said about the last day of the meeting, which started Friday and ended Sunday.
“The most serious mistake was the failure to launch the military reconnaissance satellite, an important strategic task in terms of space development, on May 31,” the article added.
The Chollima-1, a new type of North Korean carrier rocket, crashed into the Yellow Sea due to a misfiring of the rocket’s second stage engines.
The report resulting from the meeting “bitterly criticized the officials who irresponsibly carried out the preparations for the launch of the satellite,” and raised the need to “make a comprehensive analysis of the causes and lessons of this recent failure and launch successfully the military reconnaissance satellite in a short period of time.”
The Workers’ Party spoke of its intention to boost the production of “powerful nuclear weapons” amid the “changing security landscape.” During the three-day meeting, it also discussed defense issues, economic issues (it urged to increase agricultural production and comply with plans to build new housing), diplomacy and organizational issues.
“The military adventures and reactionary offensive of United States imperialism and South Korean puppets, who are being more reckless than ever, seriously threaten the security and development interests of the state by seriously hampering our progress,” the report read.
Pyongyang has rejected invitations for dialogue from Seoul and Washington, which last year resumed their grand combined exercises and rotating deployment of US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula as the regime conducted a record number of missile tests. EFE
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