South Korea has said it has successfully launched a test launch of its first solid-fuel space rocket and said it was the first step towards launching satellites to more effectively track North Korean threats, according to Reuters.
This became possible after the United States last year agreed to lift its ten-year restrictions on the development of ballistic and other missiles in the Republic of Korea. In October, Seoul tested the Nuri rocket, the first fully South Korean development to take off, but failed to launch a satellite model.
South Korea’s defense ministry issued a statement today rejecting statements from the communist North that it had successfully tested its new intercontinental ballistic missile last week, according to the Associated Press. According to the agency, Pyongyang actually released a much lower missile and fabricated data after a previous failed test.
North Korea said last Thursday it launched the Hwasun-17 intercontinental ballistic missile, which it called the biggest test of weapons in recent years. However, the Seoul military said it was not Hwasun-17, but Hwasun-15, successfully tested in 2017.