Chinese ships are attempting to salvage North Korean rocket parts that splashed down in the Yellow Sea after its failed satellite launch last month, the South Korean military confirmed on Monday. 

The announcement corroborates an NK News report that Seoul and Beijing appear to be competing to fish out the debris, with an informed source assessing that China may aim to recover the wreckage for the DPRK.

“Chinese vessels are currently conducting salvage operations at a point 200 km (124 miles) west of Eocheong-do, which is international waters,” Col. Lee Sung-jun, a press officer for Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff