North Korea tries again to launch its first spy satellite

North Korea on Tuesday evening fired a rocket carrying a military spy satellite that flew over the Japanese archipelago and entered the Pacific, prompting Japan to condemn the launch “in the strongest possible terms.”

Japanese officials said Wednesday morning that Tokyo was continuing to analyze the launch – Pyongyang’s third attempt this year to put a spy satellite into orbit – but could not immediately determine whether the rocket launch or the satellite mission had been a success.

Speaking at his second news conference hours after the late night launch, Japanese government spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticized the “unprecedented” series of missile tests of North Korea over nearly two years, but said Tuesday’s launch was a different twist in Pyongyang’s well-worn strategy playbook.