North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) watches a long range rocket launch into the air in North Korea, in this photo released by Kyodo February 7, 2016. Mandatory credit REUTERS/Kyodo

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea retrieved on Sunday what it believes to be a fairing dropped by a rocket North Korea launched earlier in the day, its defence ministry said.

Retrieving parts of the rocket that carried what the North says is a satellite into space would help provide clues into isolated Pyongyang’s rocket programme.

The object was found southeast of South Korea’s Jeju island by a navy ship, a defence ministry official said. A fairing shields the payload, or satellite, carried by a rocket into space.