By Hyunsu Yim and Soo-hyang Choi
SEOUL (Reuters) -&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim Jong Un's sister, said her country would&nbsp;soon&nbsp;put&nbsp;a military&nbsp;spy&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;into&nbsp;orbit&nbsp;and promised Pyongyang would increase its military surveillance capabilities, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.
The remarks by Kim, a powerful ruling party official, came a day&nbsp;after&nbsp;a&nbsp;failed&nbsp;attempt at&nbsp;launching the country's first&nbsp;spy&nbsp;satellite, which plunged into sea.
Kim rejected condemnation of the&nbsp;launch&nbsp;by Washington and other countries as an infringement of its sovereign right to space development.
"It is certain that (North&nbsp;Korea's) military reconnaissance&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;will be correctly&nbsp;put&nbsp;on space&nbsp;orbit&nbsp;in the near future and start its mission," Kim said in an English-language statement carried by KCNA.
Soon&nbsp;after&nbsp;the&nbsp;launch&nbsp;vehicle&nbsp;failed, South&nbsp;Korea&nbsp;detected debris that splashed down off its west coast and began a salvage operation in the hopes of studying the new rocket.
"The part we found appears to be the second stage of the rocket," South&nbsp;Korea's Defence Minister Lee Jong-sup told parliament on Thursday. "We are continuing search operations to find more, including the third stage and the payload.
A large and heavy object remains submerged, and will require time and specialised equipment to raise it, Lee added.
It was not clear when the&nbsp;North&nbsp;might try another&nbsp;launch. It may take weeks or more to resolve the problems that caused the rocket's failure, a South&nbsp;Korean lawmaker said on Wednesday, citing the South's intelligence agency.
In a rare and swift admission of the setback, KCNA reported just hours&nbsp;after&nbsp;the&nbsp;launch&nbsp;that the Chollima-1 rocket, carrying a military reconnaissance&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;known as "Malligyong-1", crashed into the sea&nbsp;after&nbsp;the second stage engine&nbsp;failed.
KCNA also published on Thursday images of what it said was the new rocket lifting off from a coastal&nbsp;launch&nbsp;pad. The white-and-gray rocket had a bulbous nose, apparently for carrying a&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;or other cargo.
The photos confirmed that the rocket is a new design, said Ankit Panda of the U.S.-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"The&nbsp;launch&nbsp;used the new coastal&nbsp;launch&nbsp;pad they've built at Tongchang-ri, so we might see a larger space&nbsp;launch&nbsp;vehicle use the traditional gantry that has seen some work recently," he added.
U.S.-based monitors, including 38&nbsp;North&nbsp;and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, reported that commercial&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;imagery showed significant activity at the main pad&nbsp;after&nbsp;Wednesday's&nbsp;launch.
South&nbsp;Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could be presumed from&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's state media photos that the rocket was&nbsp;launched from a new pad.
Wednesday's&nbsp;launch&nbsp;was widely criticized, including by South&nbsp;Korea, Japan and the United States.
Speaking in Tokyo, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "North&nbsp;Korea's dangerous and destabilising nuclear and missile programs threaten peace and stability in the region."
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any&nbsp;launch&nbsp;by Pyongyang using ballistic missile technology breaches Security Council resolutions, a spokesperson said.
In her statement, Kim Yo Jong said the criticisms of the&nbsp;launch&nbsp;were "self-contradiction" as the U.S. and other countries have already&nbsp;launched "thousands of&nbsp;satellites."
"The U.S. is a group of gangsters who would claim that even if the DPRK&nbsp;launches a&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;... it is illegal and threatening," she said, using the initials of&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's official name.
South&nbsp;Korea's foreign ministry said Kim's claim is based on "distorted" views that defy the United Nations' hope for regional peace.
In a separate statement carried by KCNA,&nbsp;North&nbsp;Korea's vice foreign minister Kim Son Gyong criticized U.S.-led military drills in the region including a multinational anti-proliferation naval drill.
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(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Soo-hyang Choi; Editing by Chris Reese, Grant McCool and Gerry Doyle)

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