North Korea Set to Launch Military Spy Satellite

Mr. Kim stressed that the military satellite was necessary to strengthen North Korea’s military in response to joint exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. He said it was important to secure real-time information about hostile militaries. North Korea often refers to the U.S. and its allies as hostile forces.

Mr. Kim said one of the objectives of the spy satellite is to acquire the ability to use pre-emptive military force when the situation demands. That indicated a spy satellite launch is partly aimed at advancing North Korea’s ability to identify and attack targets in South Korea, said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“Tensions will escalate further between the two Koreas as North Korea continues military advances,” Mr. Yang said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Kim accused the U.S. of transforming South Korea into an “advanced base for aggression” by deploying strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. and South Korea have expanded joint military exercises to strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats. This week, the U.S. and South Korea launched aerial exercises involving more than 100 warplanes and conducted naval missile defense drills with Japan.

North Korea has characterized the military drills as a rehearsal for an invasion and pointed to them as reasons for carrying out further weapons tests. North Korea last week fired a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, raising concerns that its capability to target the U.S. mainland is becoming more advanced.

Deploying a military reconnaissance satellite was one of the goals identified by North Korea in January 2021, when the regime laid out its future plans for its military at a party-congress meeting. Other goals included developing a solid-fueled ICBM and a nuclear-powered submarine. North Korea launched observation satellites into orbit in December 2012 and February 2016, but has yet to successfully launch a military satellite into orbit.

Photo: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

In December, North Korea launched a rocket as a part of what the regime described as a final-stage test for its military satellite. The country published photos of South Korean cities as purported evidence of its ability to transmit data. North Korea has demonstrated a capacity to send satellites into space, but analysts said the photos appeared to be low resolution and too crude for surveillance purposes.

To put a reconnaissance satellite into orbit, North Korea would have to launch a long-range rocket. The United Nations Security Council has banned North Korea from launching satellites because such launches can be used to test long-range ballistic-missile technology. Last month, the South Korean government banned dozens of materials that can be used for satellite development from being exported to North Korea via a third country.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is scheduled to make a state visit to the U.S. later this month. North Korea could attempt to a satellite launch timed around Mr. Yoon’s trip, said Mr. Yang, but the country will need the right weather conditions for a successful launch. 

Write to Dasl Yoon at [email protected]