North Korea confirmed intentions to launch its first military spy satellite in June, saying that such capabilities are essential for keeping tabs on the US’ “reckless” military drills with South Korea’s rivals.

The announcement came a day after North Korea informed Japanese officials that it intends to launch the satellite sometime between May 31 and June 11 and that the event may affect waterways in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and to the east of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Yasukazu Hamada, the defence minister of Japan, stated that he gave the order to Japan’s Self Defense Forces to shoot down any satellite or debris that might have landed on Japanese soil.

Senior North Korean military official Ri Pyong Chol criticised the joint US-South Korean military drills, which Pyongyang has long referred to as invasion preparations, in remarks that were released on state media. In order to track in real-time the “dangerous military acts of the US and its vassal forces,” which, according to him, are “openly exhibiting their reckless ambition for aggression,” he claimed that North Korea views space-based reconnaissance as “indispensable.”

Almost 100 missiles, including intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach the US mainland, have been tested by North Korea since the year 2022 began. The country has also conducted a number of launches that it has claimed as practise nuclear assaults on targets in South Korea. North Korea, which continues to exploit these drills as an excuse to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable weapons, has claimed that its increased testing activity is intended to offset its competitors’ joint military exercises.

The first of five rounds of drills celebrating the alliance’s 70th anniversary was carried out last week by the militaries of the US and South Korea close to the border with North Korea.

In addition to stated US plans to send nuclear-capable submarines to dock in South Korea, Ri claimed that heightened US spy aircraft activity in the area highlights a “sinister intention” to get ready for pre-emptive military strike 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. Ri didn’t specify the other reconnaissance means the North supposedly has planned.

Although prior missile and rocket tests have shown North Korea’s capability to send a satellite into orbit, the country would use long-range missile technology that has been outlawed by previous UN Security Council resolutions.

Among the many cutting-edge weaponry systems that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared openly that he will create are spy satellites. He also wants solid-fuel ICBMs, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic missiles, and missiles with multiple warheads.

In 2012 and 2016, North Korea launched satellites for Earth observation. While North Korea does not previously alert its neighbours of missile launches, it has done so in the past for satellite launches.

Although North Korea has shown in the past that it is capable of launching a satellite into orbit using missiles and rockets, there are concerns regarding the capabilities of its satellites. The former satellites, according to foreign experts, never sent imagery back to North Korea, and analysts claim the latest device shown in recent state media images was too small and shoddily constructed to process and send high-resolution imagery.

On Monday, South Korea issued a warning to North Korea that failure to comply with resolutions of the UN Security Council prohibiting the North from executing any launch utilising ballistic technology will result in repercussions.

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