North Korea's spy satellite launch fails with second-stage malfunction

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said May 31 that its first spy satellite launch ended in failure after the carrier rocket's second stage malfunctioned. Despite the failure, the launch triggered international condemnation because a satellite launch by the nuclear-armed North violates U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban the country from conducting any launch based on ballistic technology. The White House called the launch a "brazen violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions" in a May 30 statement. The rocket, named Chollima-1, crashed into the sea nearly 200 kilometers west of South Korea's southwestern island of Eocheong, after lifting off…