The satellite North Korea launched Sunday has been put into orbit, the Defense Ministry confirmed Tuesday.
But CNN reported that the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite is "tumbling" and incapable of functioning in any useful way, quoting a senior U.S. defense official.
The international community has condemned Sunday's rocket launch, seeing it as a covert test of the reclusive regime's intercontinental ballistic missile technology. The firing follows a purported hydrogen bomb test last month.
According to the Defense Ministry's examination of the launch, the North is presumed to have a long-range missile with a 12,000-kilometer range.
But Pyongyang still lacks the "re-entry" technology needed to bring the satellite back into the atmosphere, the ministry said.
But CNN reported that the Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite is "tumbling" and incapable of functioning in any useful way, quoting a senior U.S. defense official.
The international community has condemned Sunday's rocket launch, seeing it as a covert test of the reclusive regime's intercontinental ballistic missile technology. The firing follows a purported hydrogen bomb test last month.
According to the Defense Ministry's examination of the launch, the North is presumed to have a long-range missile with a 12,000-kilometer range.
But Pyongyang still lacks the "re-entry" technology needed to bring the satellite back into the atmosphere, the ministry said.
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