Pyongyang had announced in recent days its intention to launch a satellite as early as June. The launch triggered alerts in Seoul and Japan's Okinawa archipelago.
North Korea fired a rocket on Wednesday (May 31st) that it presented as a "space launch vehicle" South Korea also cancelled an alert issued by the city of Seoul, which had sounded sirens and sent a critical emergency message to all mobile phones. The alert asked residents to prepare to evacuate by putting "children and the elderly first"