[North Korea Rocket War, Photo Credit to Pixabay]

The sudden and unanticipated launch of a North Korean spy satellite has caused massive panic in South Korea, resulting in emergency alerts and evacuation warnings.

At 06:32AM KST (Korean Standard Time), the Seoul Metropolitan Government had mistakenly issued its own warning to the Seoul area, and an emergency disaster text message was sent at 06:41AM KST. 

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety quickly rectified the false message at 06:41AM KST and issued a clarification notice at 07:03AM KST using their own authority. 

However, this did not prevent the residents of Seoul from experiencing distress.

This unexpected event so early in the morning triggered widespread anxiety among Seoul's residents, resulting in the failure to access the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's website, certain smartphone apps, and Naver, a popular Korean search engine, due to the overwhelming number of users.

Furthermore, over 4,000 inquiries flooded the fire authorities in the Seoul metropolitan area that morning, and numerous social media posts expressed the public's rising anxiety and unease about the situation.

Many people said they were terrified and did not know what to do when they heard the announcements.

Some claimed to have run out of their homes or offices, while others maintained that they stayed indoors and watched the news anxiously.

Regarding the Seoul Metropolitan Government's false message, an official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has pointed out that the government may have over-interpreted an official letter to issue an alert to areas that have not been received, which were meant for the areas on the flight path.

During the briefing, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon acknowledged that the government may have overestimated the severity of the situation; however, he refuted claims of it being a false message.

Aside from the incident in Seoul, recent news reports have revealed that the emergency contact network of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety failed to operate efficiently,  indicating that the Ministry should also share responsibility for the issue.

Public opinions on this issue were strongly divided.

Some citizens criticized the Seoul Metropolitan Government for causing unnecessary anxiety through the erroneous directive, while others supported the government, arguing that prioritizing safety, even if it seems excessive, should be of utmost importance.

Regardless of the differing viewpoints, the incident raised a central concern regarding the insufficient knowledge surrounding citizen evacuations. 

This shortcoming became evident as, even with the evacuation order issued, a majority of citizens either hesitated to visit the shelters or were unaware of where they were located.

On May 31st, at approximately 06:29AM KST, North Korea launched a space launch vehicle, "Cheollima-1," equipped with its first spy satellite, "Manrigyeong-1" in a southern direction.

Previously labeled as a "June launch" by Ri Byung-chul, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, the early May 31st launch took the world by surprise.

Unfortunately for North Korea, the rocket lost thrust due to a malfunction of the second-stage engine, and fell into the waters off the west coast of the Korean Peninsula.

As the rocket's launch failure led to an unpredictable flight trajectory, it was anticipated that there might be potential collateral damage. 

In response, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (행정안전부) quickly issued warnings for Baengnyeong Island and Daecheong Island at 06:29, both of which were located within the path of the errant rocket.