U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned North Korea’s botched launch of a military reconnaissance satellite this week, and called on it to return to dialogue, his spokesperson said.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson, issued a statement on the secretary general’s position regarding the North’s launch on Monday.

“The secretary-general strongly condemns the attempted launch of another military satellite using ballistic missile technology by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK),” Dujarric said, referring to the North by its official name,

“Any launch by the DPRK using ballistic missile technology is contrary to the relevant Security Council resolutions,” he added.

Guterres repeated his calls for Pyongyang to come out for dialogue, the spokesperson said.

“The secretary-general reiterates his calls on the DPRK to fully comply with its international obligations under all relevant Security Council resolutions and to swiftly return to dialogue without preconditions to achieve t
he goal of sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

The North has admitted that its latest attempt to launch a satellite ended in failure due to the air blast of the carrier rocket during the first-stage flight.

It has planned to launch three satellites this year. It successfully put its first military spy satellite into orbit in November.

Source: Yonhap News Agency