North Korea confirmed Tuesday (May 30) that it will launch a military spy satellite in June to "address dangerous US military actions", with Japan suspecting a disguised missile launch.
The "No. 1 military reconnaissance satellite" will be "launched in June" to "address the dangerous military actions of the United States and its vassals", said Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the central military commission. of the Workers' Party, quoted by the state agency KCNA. The official also accused the United States of carrying out "hostile aerial espionage activities in the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity".
Japan announced on Monday that it had been informed by North Korea of an upcoming satellite launch, a project which, according to the Japanese government, would conceal a ballistic missile launch. According to Tokyo, Pyongyang notified the Japanese Coast Guard of the rocket launch between May 31 and June 11.
The projectile is expected to land in an area somewhere between the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and eastern Luzon Island in the Philippines, places generally designated for falling debris or rocket stages. "Even if described as a satellite, a launch using ballistic missile technology would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions" and threaten people's safety, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday. .
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has given the order to shoot down any ballistic missile whose fall on its land or sea territory is confirmed, specifying that it has deployed SM-3 and Patriot PAC-3 type interceptor missiles for this purpose.
"North Korea's alleged 'satellite launch' constitutes a serious violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions banning all launches using ballistic missile technology, and is a clearly illegal act that does not can be justified under any circumstances,” the South Korean Defense Ministry also said in a statement.
Pyongyang's communication strategy of informing Japan of its future launches but not South Korea could be linked to major joint exercises between Seoul and Washington that began Thursday just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, said estimated with Agence France-Presse analyst Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korean Studies of the Sejong Institute.
In addition, Seoul "labeled North Korea an enemy in a defense document in February. North Korea doesn't like Japan, but it has more reasons not to like Seoul right now," according to Cheong Seong-chang. Seoul and Tokyo have been trying to warm up long-strained relations for the past few weeks, including by working together more in the face of North Korea's military threats.
But Fumio Kishida reiterated on Monday that Tokyo was also open to talks with Pyongyang, which according to official North Korean media appeared to approve of a conciliatory approach to relations with Japan, an unusual position on the part of the reclusive country.
North Korea has already tested ballistic missiles in 2012 and then in 2016, which it described as satellite launches and which flew over the island department of Okinawa, in southern Japan. Developing a reconnaissance satellite was among Pyongyang's key defense projects unveiled by Kim Jong-un last year. The North Korean leader visited the workshop where this satellite is being developed on May 16, and gave the green light to his "future action plan".
