North Korea claims to have finally successfully launched a military spy satellite into space. The success follows a meeting in September between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which Russia offered to help North Korea in its space program, reports the British BBC.
Following North Korea’s satellite launch, South Korea said it would resume surveillance along its border with North Korea, which means the suspension of a 2018 agreement aimed at easing military tensions.
North Korea’s state news agency KCNA reported that the North’s military spy satellite Malligyong-1 had successfully entered orbit, and that leader Kim Jong Un had observed the launch.
Images of the launch of the DPRK’s Mulligan-1 military reconnaissance satellite are published by North Korean media
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally observed the process of launching the satellite into orbit. It is planned that in the “near future” the country will… pic.twitter.com/dTWGN7CRak
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 22, 2023
The UN, the US and Japan have condemned North Korea’s satellite launch, with the UN Secretary-General stressing that the use of ballistic missile technology violates Security Council resolutions and calling on North Korea to return to the path of denuclearisation.
The White House called it a “brazen violation”, quotes the BBC.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch, stressing that the use of ballistic missile technology not only violates the UN resolution but also raises serious security concerns in the region.
North Korea warned Japan of the satellite launch on Monday and the Japanese government issued an emergency warning to Okinawans at the time of the launch, given that two previous attempts had failed, and the missile flew over Okinawa prefecture.
North Korea launched the satellite earlier than expected,
outside the nine-day period that Pyongyang had notified Japan of, reports the BBC. The launch was due to begin on Wednesday and end at 23:59 local time on the 30th of November.
The BBC, citing the North Korean news agency KCNA, reports that a satellite launch site in Sohae was used for the operation.
Although North Korea claims that the satellite launch was successful, it has yet to be independently verified.
South Korea collected debris from North Korea’s first launch in May, claiming the satellite “has no military use”, the BBC reports. A second attempt in August also failed. Pyongyang had announced plans for another attempt in October, but this did not come true.
The North Korean leader needs a spy satellite because it will allow him to monitor possible attacks more closely and plan his own, writes the BBC.
Read also: Kim Jong Un finally meets Putin in Russia
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