N. Korean state TV airs footage of rocket launch

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's state television on Tuesday aired video
images of the country's rocket launch, which Pyongyang claims has put a satellite
into orbit.
The Korean Central TV Broadcasting Station aired the five-second footage at
around 7:30 a.m., which showed a white, three-stage rocket bearing North Korea's
name, "Joson," in black blasting off from a launch pad into the sky.
The image was earlier released by the APTN, which received it from North Korea
through its branch in Pyongyang.
North Korea says the experimental communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2
entered orbit via the Unha-2 carrier rocket Sunday, while outside monitors
concluded the satellite plunged into the Pacific Ocean.
For its first satellite, the Kwangmyongsong-1, launched in 1998, North Korea
released video image five days later through the state-run TV. Pyongyang then
claimed the satellite made it into orbit, but international monitors found no new
vehicle in space.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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