North Korea confirmed the launch of a spy satellite in June
North Korea plans to launch a military spy satellite from June in response to US hostile actions.
According to state media, North Korea plans to launch a spy satellite in June. State news agency KCNA said on Tuesday, citing a senior military official, that this was necessary to monitor military movements of the United States and its allies in real time.
Japan announced on Monday that it had been notified by Pyongyang of the upcoming satellite launch, which will take place as soon as this week. Tokyo has warned that it could be a missile test.
KCNA quoted Ri Pyong Chol, vice chairman of the ruling party’s Central Military Commission, as saying that the “military spy satellite number one” would be “launched in June”. The satellite and “numerous spy tools to be tested” are “necessary to monitor, track and proactively manage dangerous military operations of the United States and its vassals in real time”.
Citing “irresponsible” actions by Washington and Seoul, he said North Korea needs to “expand intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities and improve various defensive and offensive weapons” to be better prepared militarily. A North Korean military spokesman accused the US of “hostile aerial reconnaissance operations in and around the Korean Peninsula”.
The Japanese Coast Guard is on high alert
According to a Pyongyang spokesman, the Japanese Coast Guard was informed that a rocket would be fired between May 31 and June 11. In addition, North Korea has issued a warning to areas east of the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Philippine island of Luzon. Such regions are commonly named falling debris or rocket stages.
In 2012 and 2016, Pyongyang tested ballistic missiles, but described them as satellite missiles. Both flew over Okinawa, the southern tip of Japan.
North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un inspected his country’s first military spy satellite in mid-May and gave the green light to a “future action plan.”
AFP
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