North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says his country has built its first-ever military spy satellite
Published Date – 07:20 AM, Thu – 20 April 23
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and his daughter, known as Ju-ae, visit the North Korean Space Development Agency (IANS photo)
Seoul: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country has built its first-ever military spy satellite and plans to launch it on an undisclosed date, state media reported on Wednesday.
Previous missile and rocket tests have shown North Korea can send satellites into space, but many experts question whether it has cameras advanced enough to conduct espionage from satellites because only low-resolution images have been released after past tests.
During a visit to the country’s aerospace agency on Tuesday, Kim said having an operational military reconnaissance satellite was critical for North Korea to effectively use its nuclear-capable missiles.
Kim cited what he said was a serious security threat posed by what he said was the “most hostile rhetoric and clear actions” of the U.S. and South Korea this year, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.
He may want to pressure his opponents on issues such as joint military exercises and international economic sanctions on North Korea.
Kim said the “Military Reconnaissance Satellite No. 1” had been completed and ordered officials to speed up launch preparations.
He said North Korea would have to launch several satellites to build intelligence-gathering capabilities, KCNA said.
North Korea said its ongoing weapons tests, including last week’s first test of a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile aimed at hitting the continental United States, were in response to joint military exercises between the United States and its regional allies South Korea and Japan.
North Korea has conducted about 100 missile tests since early last year, including about 30 this year.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries have been expanding joint exercises in response to the growing nuclear threat from North Korea.
This week, the allies launched 12 days of air drills involving some 110 warplanes and a one-day naval missile defense exercise with Japan.
The spy satellite is one of a series of major weapons systems that Kim Jong-un publicly vowed to develop at a January 2021 meeting of the main ruling Workers’ Party.
Kim has also pledged to build solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic missiles and multiple-warhead missiles.
North Korea has since tested such weapons, but observers say the high-tech weapons are still in the development phase.
North Korea released black-and-white photos showing South Korean cities from space after it launched a test satellite in December.
Some civilian experts in South Korea said at the time that the photos were too crude for surveillance purposes and that they might only be able to identify large targets such as warships at sea or military installations on the ground.
Kim Yo Jong, Kim’s sister and a senior North Korean official, said the test satellites carried commercial cameras because there was no reason to use expensive high-resolution cameras for a single test.
Kim Jong-un said one of the goals of his spy satellites was to gain the ability to “use pre-emptive military force when the situation requires it”. The KCNA report on Tuesday focused on U.S. military assets such as aircraft carriers and long-range bombers deployed in South Korea in recent months, but made no mention of possible targets in the U.S. mainland.
That could mean North Korea intends to use its reconnaissance satellites to identify key South Korean targets, including U.S. military bases, so they can attack them with short-range missiles.
Launching reconnaissance satellites into orbit requires long-range rockets. The United Nations has banned North Korea from launching such missiles, which it sees as a cover for testing its long-range ballistic missile technology.
In response to questions from The Associated Press, South Korea’s foreign ministry said North Korea’s launch of a spy satellite would threaten regional peace and violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from launching any ballistic missiles. It said South Korea would work closely with the international community to hold North Korea to account for its provocations.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea would likely notify international maritime and telecommunications authorities of its launch plans sometime between May and September.
North Korea launched its first and second Earth-observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither satellite transmitted images back to North Korea. The United Nations imposed sanctions on the launches.
North Korea has avoided new U.N. sanctions in 2022 and this year for its recent ballistic missile tests, as U.N. Security Council permanent members Russia and China do not support attempts by the U.S. and others to tighten sanctions on North Korea.
