N. Korea intends to launch satellite between Aug. 24 and 31: Kyodo

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

North Korea

Mon, December 4, 2023 | 15:05

N. Korea intends to launch satellite between Aug. 24 and 31: Kyodo

Posted : 2023-08-22 08:22

Updated : 2023-08-22 16:38

This file photo provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on June 1, shows the launch of the North's new Chollima-1 rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, the Malligyong-1, from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast the previous day. Yonhap

North Korea has notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between Thursday and Aug. 31, according to a Japanese news report, as the country seeks to put a spy satellite into orbit following its failure in May.

The North informed Japan's coast guard of its plan to designate three maritime danger zones ― two of which are west of the Korean Peninsula and the other is to the east of the Philippines' island of Luzon, Japan's Kyodo News reported Tuesday.

"The plan is believed to be a retry of a military reconnaissance satellite launch North Korea attempted in May, but that ended in failure," it added.

The North launched its first military spy satellite, the Malligyong-1, mounted on a new type of rocket named the Chollima-1, on May 31. But the rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after an "abnormal starting" of the second-stage engine, according to the North's state media.

North Korea has also given prior notice to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the U.N. maritime safety agency, over its satellite launch plan, according to an official at South Korea's unification ministry.

South Korea's spy agency told lawmakers last week that Pyongyang could launch a reconnaissance satellite in late August or early September, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the regime's founding on Sept. 9.

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The launch window overlaps the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise between South Korea and the United States that kicked off Monday for a 10-day run. The North has long denounced Seoul-Washington joint military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion.

"With a satellite launch, the North appears to want to celebrate its founding anniversary internally," said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies.

North Korea also seems to want to make the latest trilateral summit agreement among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo futile and flex its military muscle against the UFS exercise, he added.

The leaders of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan held a trilateral summit at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland on Friday and agreed to cooperate closely for stronger missile defense against North Korea.

A TV screen shows an image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, Aug. 21. AP-Yonhap

Seoul's unification ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs voiced "strong" regret over the North's satellite launch plan and called on Pyongyang to immediately revoke it.

"A satellite launch by the North is a blatant illegal act that flatly violates U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban any launches using ballistic missile technology. Pyongyang cannot justify it with any excuse," the ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

He said the government will sternly deal with the North's illegal provocative acts, based on close three-way coordination among Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

A military spy satellite is among the high-tech weapons that the North has vowed to develop, along with solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and a nuclear-powered submarine.

The South Korean military said in July that the North's spy satellite has "no military utility" after retrieving its wreckage from the Yellow Sea.

Experts said a spy satellite will help the North stage a precision strike against targets in war situations, as it will enhance the country's surveillance capability, but many still have doubts about the North's satellite capabilities. (Yonhap)