WORLD NEWS | North Korea says to launch first military spy satellite in June

Pyongyang [North Korea], May 30 (ANI): North Korea is preparing to launch its first military spy satellite in June. The planned launch is aimed at tracking U.S. military operations in real time, Yonhap news agency reported, citing a senior official in charge of North Korea’s military affairs.

It was a day after North Korea notified Japan of its plans to launch the satellite between May 31 and June 11.

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Ri Pyong-chol, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said in a statement that North Korea’s planned satellite launch was an “indispensible” action to strengthen its combat readiness. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency broadcast the remarks.

In a statement in English, Ri said North Korea’s spy satellite to be launched in June and various reconnaissance tools currently being tested are “indispensible for early tracking, surveillance, identification, control and response,” according to Yonhap News Agency, showing the U.S. in real time. and South Korea’s dangerous military behavior.

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Without providing any further details, he also vowed to “expand reconnaissance and information means, improve various defensive and offensive weapons, and set a timetable for implementing their development plans”.

North Korea said earlier this month that it had completed the necessary preparations to launch its first military surveillance satellite on a rocket, with Kim Jong Un approving a “future action plan”.

At a major party congress in 2021, the North Korean leader pledged to build advanced weapons, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines and military surveillance satellites, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Ri slammed the U.S. and South Korea for escalating military tensions on the Korean peninsula, criticizing South Korea’s plan to organize multinational naval exercises to stem the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction and the largest ever live-fire drills by allies.

He also criticized the United States for stepping up “hostile aerial espionage” after it recently sent high-profile military surveillance planes over the Yellow Sea, Yonhap news agency reported.

“We will comprehensively consider current and future threats, and carry out activities to strengthen comprehensive and practical war deterrents more deeply,” Li said.

North Korea’s planned satellite launch was met with “strong” opposition from South Korea on Monday, with Pyongyang threatening to pay a “due price” if it went ahead.

North Korea’s planned satellite launch would violate many Security Council resolutions banning its nuclear and missile programs because it uses the same technology as ballistic missiles.

While many question North Korea’s satellite capabilities, experts claim the spy satellites will allow North Korea to conduct precision strikes on targets in combat scenarios by boosting the country’s surveillance capabilities.

The secretive regime said in December that it had conducted a “significant, final stage” test of its spy satellite development, providing black-and-white images of South Korean cities taken by its “test satellite” from space, Yonhap news agency reported. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)