North Korea says it will launch its first-ever military spy satellite to monitor U.S. drills
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 09: Folks watch a tv present North Korea’s seventy fifth anniversary of the founding of the armed forces day army parade launched by Korean Central Information Company (KCNA) in Seoul, South Korea.
Chung Sung-jun | Getty Photographs Information | Getty Photographs
North Korea introduced its plans to launch its first-ever army spy satellite tv for pc – giving a raise for some South Korean and Japanese protection shares.
North Korean army official Ri Pyong Chol mentioned in a Monday assertion that Pyongyang plans to launch a satellite tv for pc with the intention to trace “harmful” actions by the U.S., pointing to its latest joint army drills taking with South Korea.
North Korea claimed the occasion “absolutely proves how the enemy is making preparations for the army act of aggression on the DPRK,” referring to its official identify, the Democratic Folks’s Republic of Korea.
Ri mentioned the satellite tv for pc — scheduled to be launched in June — can be “indispensable to monitoring, monitoring, discriminating, controlling and dealing with prematurely in actual time the harmful army acts of the U.S. and its vassal forces overtly revealing their reckless ambition for aggression.”
“Below the current scenario introduced by the reckless army acts by the U.S. and South Korea, we steadily really feel the necessity to develop reconnaissance and knowledge means and enhance varied defensive and offensive weapons and have the timetables for finishing up their growth plans,” he mentioned.
Protection shares rise
Shares of South Korean protection firms Firstec and Victek rose 3.8% and three.3% respectively Tuesday afternoon, coming back from a market vacation Monday. Korea Aerospace Industries additionally edged up 0.6%.
Japanese protection firm Hosoya Pyro-Engineering gained 1.11%, whereas Mitsubishi Electrical Corp inched up 0.16%.
Japan’s protection ministry warned it should “take all doable measures” to destroy any North Korean missile that enters its territory – including that Pyongyang’s repeated testing of its ballistic missiles pose a menace to the peace and safety of the area and the worldwide group.
ICBM take a look at forward?
Stephen Nagy, a professor at Worldwide Christian College, mentioned the launch could possibly be one thing else like an intercontinental ballistic missile take a look at.
“North Korea will go forward with the satellite tv for pc launch, I feel most analysts imagine that it is truly an ICBM – demonstrating elevated capabilities of having the ability to assault U.S. bases within the Pacific but additionally on the mainland,” he mentioned.
Nagy added that he sees the newest announcement from Pyongyang as a “sign” from North Korea to the U.S. to take the nation extra severely and to return to the negotiating desk – because the highlight for Washington’s overseas coverage stays on China and Taiwan.
“North Korea and its incapability to maneuver ahead on some sort of compromise to maneuver in direction of verifiable, irreversible denuclearization actually places the Biden administration able the place if the North Koreans do not transfer by way of compromise, that they [U.S.] can proceed and can proceed to reinforce their deterrence capabilities inside the area,” he mentioned.
“North Korea has been below heavy sanctions for years and it is nonetheless engaged in provocative conduct and this results in the query of, do we’d like a brand new technique and who will we work with … I simply do not assume there’s a straightforward resolution as we transfer ahead on this drawback,” he mentioned.

“The Biden precedence is in fact China, then Russia, then guaranteeing the Indo-Pacific area is broadly peaceable and secure,” he mentioned, including that “Taiwan is on the prime of the agenda as a result of it is such a essential a part of its [U.S.] relations with China,” he mentioned.