Once again the South Korean test of a rocket has been postponed and this time at the last minute:

South Korea – Space officials aborted South Korea‘s first rocket launch just minutes before liftoff Wednesday.

The scheduled launch, just months after North Korea was widely criticized for firing its own rocket in defiance of the United Nations, had threatened to raise Pyongyang‘s ire. North Korea said it would keep a close eye on the international response to Seoul’s rocket launch.

The launch had been set for 5 p.m. (0800 GMT/4 a.m. EDT) from the Naro Space Center off the southern coast but was aborted less than eight minutes before liftoff, Science Ministry spokesman Kim Bo-hyun said. The reason was not immediately provided.

The two-stage rocket would be South Korea’s first launch from its own territory. Since 1992, it has launched 11 satellites, all on foreign-made rockets from overseas sites. South Korea wants to become a regional space power alongside China, Japan and India.

In April, North Korea beat the South in the space game by launching a multistage rocket it said was mounted with a satellite. The U.S., Japan and other nations condemned the firing as a test of ballistic missile technology since the same rocket can be mounted with nuclear armaments.  [Associated Press]

The Associated Press was trying to make this article appear that the South Koreans cancelled the launch due to the possible reaction from the North Koreans to the launch.  If that was the case the South Korean government would have cancelled the launch well before eight minutes to lift off.  The Korean media is providing the real reason why the launch was delayed, which is the same reason it was delayed in the past, technical difficulties:

South Korea suspended Wednesday the launch of its first space rocket with just under eight minutes remaining in the countdown due to a technical glitch.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI), said mission controllers decided to suspend the launch of the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1 (KSLV-1) and remove its fuel and oxidation agents. The rocket was scheduled for a 5 p.m. launch (Seoul Time).

Mission controllers also re-connected the rocket to the clamp-like erector arms of the launch pad that were withdrawn as the countdown began.

“The automatic launch sequence automatically turned off due to a problem that was detected in the countdown,” said Lee Sang-mok, deputy minister of science and technology policy.

Without going into details, he said a movable valve operated by helium failed to function properly due to weak pressure inside a tank.  [Yonhap]

I’m sure the South Koreans don’t want to fire off a faulty rocket like the North Koreans and are thus being very cautious in regards to their rocket launch to make everything go right.  Plus not only do they want to upstage the North, but the South Koreans are trying to build a commercial space industry and a faulty rocket launch would greatly set back this effort with anyone interested in investing in Korean space launch services.