SEOUL – South Korea has recovered from the sea part of a rocket used in North Korea’s failed attempt to launch its first military satellite in May, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Friday.

The part was salvaged on Thursday, the military said, adding that a search is continuing for additional objects from what the North claimed is a space launch vehicle.

On May 31, North Korea attempted to launch its first spy satellite into space. It ended in failure with the booster and payload plunging into the sea.

South Korea has been conducting salvage operations after the rocket landed in waters off the west coast island of Eocheongdo.

Photographs released by the South Korean military showed a large cylindrical object marked “Chonma”, meaning a winged horse in Korean. North Korea had said the rocket was named “Chollima-1”.

“The salvaged object will be thoroughly analysed by expert organisations, including the Agency for Defence Development,” the military said in a statement.

South Korea’s Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup had said the debris appeared to be the second stage of the rocket, and that the military would continue searching for the payload and the third stage.

Mr Lee Choon-geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said the newly retrieved object appeared to be a fuel tank.

If the military finds an engine attached to the tank, it could help discover some features of North Korea’s new rocket engine, which is designed to produce greater thrust at higher altitudes, he said.

Professor Chang Young-keun from Korea Aerospace University said the debris would also offer hints at the technical progress made by North Korea on its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability and whether it had procured any components overseas in a potential breach of sanctions.

“This is important data,” Prof Chang said.

Chinese warships had also conducted salvage operations in waters where the North Korean rocket crashed, South Korea said on Monday. It was not immediately clear whether the Chinese military was continuing its search.

Seoul and Washington have condemned the launch as a provocation and violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning the North’s use of ballistic missile technology.

Pyongyang said it was exercising its right to space development to counter what it described as US “aggression”, and vowed to stage another launch soon.

On Friday, the US guided-missile submarine USS Michigan arrived in South Korea for the first time since 2017 for joint special warfare exercises aimed at improving responses to North Korean threats, the South Korean navy said. REUTERS