State media say the projectile plunged into the sea, after briefly sparking emergency warnings in South Korea and Japan

North Korea’s first spy satellite launch has ended in failure after its second stage malfunctioned, sending the projectile plunging into the sea, with the regime vowing to conduct another launch soon.

The launch sparked emergency warnings on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and in the South Korean capital Seoul, where the city briefly issued an evacuation warning in error. Both alerts were later lifted.