North Korea’s attempt to launch its first spy satellite ended in failure, with the satellite and launch vehicle crashing into the Yellow Sea on the Korean Peninsula’s western coast.

The launch from the North triggered alarms in South Korea and Japan, with alerts being sent out to the public urging them to seek immediate shelter. However, both countries cancelled the alarms when it was revealed that it was a satellite launch that posed no immediate threat.

North Korea announced its plans to launch its first-ever military spy satellite – giving a lift for some South Korean and Japanese defense stocks.

North Korean military official Ri Pyong Chol said in a Monday statement that Pyongyang plans to launch a satellite with the aim to track “dangerous” actions by the U.S., pointing to its recent joint military drills taking with South Korea.

North Korea has informed Japan of its plan to launch a satellite in the coming days, which could be an attempt to put its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada has ordered Japan's Self-Defense Force to shoot down the satellite or debris if any enters Japanese territory. The launch window is from May 31 to June 11, and the launch may affect waters in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and east of the Philippines' Luzon Island.

The joint military exercise conducted by the US and South Korean forces involved the deployment of hundreds of troops and dozens of tanks, artillery systems and aircraft.

A study published Wednesday revealed that Seoul, South Korea, lost one in ten of its pediatric clinics in the last five years, a dramatic reduction largely attributed to the nation’s catastrophically low birth rate.

The US and South Korea on Thursday held massive live-fire drills near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) border in the latest provocation toward Pyongyang that will likely provoke North Korean missile tests.