Embarrassment For Kim Jong Un? North Korea's Spy Satellite Ends Up In The Sea After 'Abnormal Flight'

North Korea failed to put the first spy satellite into orbit early Wednesday (local time), leaving the country's supreme leader Kim Jong Un in an apparent embarrassment.

What Happened: According to the state media, the rocket carrying the satellite crashed into waters off the Korean Peninsula's western coast after it lost thrust following the separation of its first and second stages. 

North Korean scientists were examining the cause of the failure.

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According to the South Korean military, the rocket had "an abnormal flight" before it fell into the waters, reported the Associated Press.  

Why It Matters: The failure is a setback for leader Kim who has repeatedly sought to enhance military capabilities amid ongoing security tensions with the U.S. and South Korea. The satellite is part of a series of advanced weaponry that Kim has openly pledged to introduce recently, signaling his ambition to enhance Pyongyang’s military capabilities. The other weapons the dictator has vowed to develop are a multi-warhead missile, a nuclear submarine, a solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile and a hypersonic missile.

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Meanwhile, a day before the launch, boasting about the country's first spy satellite, Pyongyang slammed U.S.-South Korea’s “reckless aggression” and said it was because of the allies that North Korea took this route. 

North Korea defends its testing activities as a defensive measure aimed at countering the intensified military exercises conducted by Washington and Seoul, which it perceives as preparations for an invasion.

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