The navy made little progress in recovering North Korean rocket debris on its third straight day of attempts Sunday, officials said.

About 10 South Korean navy vessels were searching international waters of the West Sea off the country’s west coast, but did not find anything presumed to be rocket fragments, a military official said.

The official said the recovery operation could take time as there is much floating waste in the area.

“No major progress has been made in recovering” any debris, said another official at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, adding that no Chinese or Russian vessels had been spotted near the site of the fallen rocket fragments.

North Korea’s long-range rocket exploded soon after lift-off on Friday with the pieces falling into the sea off South Korea’s west coast.

North Korea before the launch threatened to immediately and mercilessly retaliate against any country that intercepted its rocket booster or collected rocket debris. 

(Yonhap News)