North Korea to launch satellites to 'keep close eye on' US, its allies

ANKARA

North Korea’s leader said on Thursday that the country will launch a number of reconnaissance satellites “to keep a close eye on” military actions by the US and its allies in the region.

The satellites will enable North Korean forces to get “real-time information on military actions against it by the … US … and its vassal forces in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific,” Kim Jong Un said during a visit to the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA).

He said the five-year plan is part of Pyongyang’s “important strategic and tactical policy on bolstering the national defense capability to keep a close eye on and distinguish the character of hostile military actions,” state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

Kim added that the government “fully supports” NADA’s aim to put “a lot of military reconnaissance satellites into sun-synchronous polar orbit in the period of the five-year plan.”

He stressed that the satellite project was not only about gathering information “but the protection of our sovereignty and national interests, the exercise of the legitimate rights to self-defense and the elevation of national prestige,” KCNA reported.

“This urgent project for perfecting the country’s war preparedness capacity by improving our state’s war deterrent is the supreme revolutionary task, a political and military priority task,” Kim was quoted as saying.

His remarks came a day after South Korea elected a new president who has indicated he will take a stronger stance against Pyongyang.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to strengthen Seoul’s strategic alliance with the US and “build a strong national defense to deter North Korean provocations,” according to Yonhap News Agency.

US President Joe Biden was the first foreign leader to personally congratulate Yoon on his election in a phone call early on Thursday.

In the conversation, Yoon stressed the need for “stronger cooperation over North Korea’s provocations, while Biden said the US is closely monitoring the situation in North Korea and that close coordination among Seoul, Washington, and Tokyo is important for policies on Pyongyang,” the report said.

Tensions have soared on the Korean Peninsula due to a series of missile tests by North Korea this year, including that of a newly developed hypersonic missile.

Pyongyang has also hinted at restarting “all temporally-suspended” defense activities, referring to a self-imposed moratorium since 2017 on testing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, drawing condemnation and fresh sanctions from the US and its allies.