North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that it will launch a military spy satellite in June to "address dangerous military actions by the United States", with Japan suspecting a disguised missile launch.
The "number 1 military reconnaissance satellite" will be "launched in June" in order "to deal with the dangerous military actions of the United States and its vassals", announced 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 the Japanese government said 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 it is described as a satellite, a launch using ballistic missile technology would violate United Nations Security Council resolutions" and threaten the safety of the population, 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 it is a clearly illegal act that cannot be justified under no circumstances," the South Korean Defense Ministry 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 km south of the inter-Korean border, said estimated by AFP the analyst Cheong Seong-chang of the Center for North Korean Studies of the Sejong Institute.
In addition, Seoul "called North Korea an enemy in a defense document in February. North Korea doesn't like Japan, but it has more reason not to like Seoul right now," according to Mr Cheong.
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 Mr 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 this 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.
Pyongyang "justifies and legitimizes the upcoming launch of a military reconnaissance satellite by invoking joint (military) maneuvers between the United States and South Korea," Yang Moo-jin, chairman of the Pyongyang, told AFP. University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
According to him, although satellites and ballistic missiles are not used for the same purposes, their technology is identical.
"If North Korea launches a satellite, it will violate United Nations security resolutions, which prohibit all launches that use ballistic missile technology."
The development of a reconnaissance satellite was among Pyongyang's key defense projects unveiled last year by Kim Jong Un. The North Korean leader visited the workshop where the satellite is being developed on May 16, and gave the green light to his "future action plan".
30/05/2023 06:53:26 - Seoul (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
