North Korea's military spy satellite: In an attempt to monitor the United States' “reckless” military exercises with rival South Korea, North Korea on Tuesday confirmed plans to launch its first military spy satellite in the month of June. The announcement came a day after North Korea informed the Japanese government that it planned to launch the satellite between May 31 and June 11, warning that the launch could have an impact on the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the waters east of the Philippines' Luzon island.
Reacting to the development, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said he has instructed the country's "Self Defense Forces" to shoot down the satellite or debris, if any entered Japanese territory. Meanwhile, senior North Korean military official Ri Pyong Chol also denounced the joint US-South Korean military drills, which Pyongyang has long referred to as invasion preparations.
According to him, North Korea sees space-based reconnaissance as “indispensable” to monitor in real time the “dangerous military acts of the US and its vassal forces,” which he says are “openly revealing their reckless ambition for aggression.
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South Korea-US conduct large-scale live-fire drills
Last week, the South Korean and US militaries conducted large-scale live-fire drills near the border with North Korea as the first of five rounds of exercises marking 70 years since the establishment of their alliance.
Ri said that the expanding US-South Korean military exercises, combined with stated US plans to send nuclear-capable submarines to dock in South Korea and the increased activities of US reconnaissance aircraft in the region underline a “sinister intention” to prepare for pre-emptive military action against the North. While Washington and Seoul describe their regular military exercises as defensive, they have expanded their training since 2022 to cope with the North's evolving threats.
“The concerning security environment prevailing in the region owing to the dangerous military acts by the US and its vassal forces requires us to secure as the most pressing task a reliable reconnaissance and information means capable of gathering information about the military acts of the enemy in real-time,” Ri said.
"North Korea's military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 to be launched in June and various reconnaissance means due to be newly tested are indispensable to tracking, monitoring, discriminating, controlling and coping with in advance in real time the dangerous military acts of the US and its vassal forces,” he added.
North Korea's satellite launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past UN Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rocket tests have demonstrated North Korea's ability to deliver a satellite into space.
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What is a spy satellite?
Spy satellites are among an array of high-tech weapons systems North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has publicly vowed to develop. Other weapons systems on his wish list include solid-propellant ICBMs, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic missiles and multi-warhead missiles.
Since the start of 2022, North Korea has test-fired about 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles designed to reach the US mainland and a slew of launches it described as simulated nuclear attacks on targets in South Korea.
It should be noted here that North Korea has said its intensified testing activity is meant to counter its rivals' joint military exercises as it continues to use those drills as a pretext to advance its arsenal of nuclear-capable weapons.
(With inputs from AP)
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