"Any launch using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is a clear violation of relevant Security Council resolutions," Guterres' spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement today. The Secretary-General reiterated his call on Pyongyang to fully comply with its international obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions and "to return swiftly to dialogue without preconditions to achieve the goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." North Korea confirmed that Monday night's attempted launch of a space rocket carrying a spy satellite failed due to an apparent problem with its booster engine. Pyongyang took just over 90 minutes to report the failed launch of the space rocket, which took place at 10:44 p.m. local time (2:44 p.m. Lisbon time), according to the South Korean military. In a statement, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the projectile launched from the Tongchang-ri area - in the northwest of the country, where the Sohae Space Launch Site is located - flying towards the West Sea (the name given in both Koreas to the Yellow Sea). Just two minutes after detecting the launch, South Korean radars again detected the projectile "as a large cluster of fragments in North Korean waters," indicating that the rocket had failed in mid-flight. North Korea thus added another failure to its space program, after two failed launches of the Chollima-1 rocket in the spring and summer of 2023. In November, Pyongyang finally managed to successfully launch the rocket and put its first spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, into orbit. North Korea said earlier this year that it would launch three more "Malligyong" spy satellites by 2024. The success of the November launch is believed to have been crucial to Russia's help, which was greatly strengthened after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit in September 2023. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo condemn these North Korean space launches, arguing that they represent a violation of UN sanctions prohibiting Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology. Read Also: Guterres advocates the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza (Portuguese version)