North Korea’s state news agency KCNA said claims it has successfully put a military spy satellite into space, named Malligyong-1.
Leader Kim Jong Un observed the launch, the agency added.
Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, decried its launch, which flew over the country’s Okinawa prefecture and on towards the Pacific Ocean.The Japanese government briefly issued an emergency warning, telling residents in Okinawa to take shelter. North Korea has twice this year tried and failed to put a military satellite into orbit, and told Japan it intended to make a third attempt. This comes in the context, Japan publicly saying at an earlier point that it would work with South Korea and the US to „strongly urge” the North not to proceed with the launch, which they said would violate UN resolutions.
„Even if the purpose is to launch a satellite, using ballistic missile technology is a clear violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions”, said Kishida. What makes the situation even more serious is the fact that the launch came earlier than anticipated, outside the nine-day window Pyongyang had notified Japan about. This was supposed to start on Wednesday and end at 23:59 local time (14:59 GMT) on 30 November.
The Japan Coast Guard said Pyongyang’s notification designated three maritime zones believed to be the areas where debris from the rocket carrying the satellite will fall. Two are to the west of the Korean Peninsula and the other is to the east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon. Kang Ho-pil, chief director of operations at the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that Seoul would take „necessary measures” should the launch proceed.
The White House described the step as a „brazen violation” of multiple United Nations resolutions.
South Korea retrieved debris from the North’s first launch in May and said the satellite had „no military utility”. After a second attempt in August failed, Pyongyang’s space agency said it would try again in October but did not do so. Earlier this month, South Korea announced plans to launch its own spy satellite by the end of November. The satellite is to be carried by a rocket from US company SpaceX, says the BBC. However the United Nations Security Council has banned Pyongyang from launching satellites because it sees them as a pretext to test the North’s missile technology.
This is reportedly the first of five spy satellites Seoul plans to launch into space by 2025.
However, North Korea’s claim that it has successfully launched the spy satellite has not yet been verified.A spy satellite would allow Kim to monitor incoming attacks and plot his own more accurately.
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