February 19, 2026 07:38 am (IST)
North Korea launches rocket, US condemns move
Seoul, Feb 7 (IBNS): Ignoring warnings from the part of Washington, North Korea on Sunday launched a rocket that is part of a program to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technologies, reports said.
According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the rocket blasted off from Tongchang-ri, the North Korea's main satellite launch site near its northwestern border with China.
The three-stage rocket dropped its first stage about two minutes after takeoff.
"It then disappeared from radar four minutes later, as soon as it dropped its fairing, a nose cone used to protect its payload," the New York Times quoted Moon Sang-gyun, a spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, as saying.
However, the United States condemned the rocket launch.
US Secretary of State John Kerry called the launch a "major provocation, threatening not only the security of the Korean Peninsula, but that of the region and the United States as well."
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