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South Korea says retrieves suspected fairing from North Korean rocket

South Korea says retrieves suspected fairing from North Korean rocket

By REUTERS

Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (C) is surrounded by reporters upon his arrival at Defense Ministry after a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (not in picture) and others in Tokyo February 7, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

SEOUL: South Korea retrieved on Sunday what it believes to be a fairing dropped by a rocket North Korea launched earlier in the day, its defence ministry said. Retrieving parts of the rocket that carried what the North says is a satellite into space would help provide clues into isolated Pyongyang's rocket programme. The object was found southeast of South Korea's Jeju island by a navy ship, a defence ministry official said. A fairing shields the payload, or satellite, carried by a rocket into space.