N Korea has released satellite imagery of the South Korean cities of Seoul and Incheon believed to have been taken during the test.
North Korea has conducted an “important final stage” test in the development of a military reconnaissance satellite, which the country aims to complete by April 2023, North Korean state media reported.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday that North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration conducted the test on Sunday at the country’s Sohae satellite launch station in Cholsan, North Pyongan province.
A rocket carrying a so-called “test piece satellite” — including multiple cameras, image transmitters and receivers, a controller and a storage battery — was launched at a “raised angle” to an altitude of 500 km (311 miles). according to KCNA.
According to KCNA, the test was designed to validate satellite imaging capabilities, data transmission and a ground control system.
“We have confirmed key technical indicators such as camera operation technology in the space environment, data processing and transmission capability of the communications equipment, tracking and control accuracy of the ground control system,” an unnamed North Korean aerospace spokesman said in the KCNA cable.
North Korea plans to “complete preparations for the first military reconnaissance satellite by April 2023,” the official said in the KCNA report.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Monday that KCNA also released satellite imagery of South Korea’s capital “Seoul and the adjacent city of Incheon, believed to have been captured by the test piece satellite.”
🆕 Just arrived: North Korea says yesterday’s missile launch was part of its tests for a military reconnaissance satellite. Page 2 of Monday’s Rodong Sinmun features an image of the launch and a photo tale from the satellite of downtown Seoul. (Continuation) pic.twitter.com/UUjS8WryX8
— Martyn Williams (@martyn_williams) December 18, 2022
On Sunday, North Korea also fired two medium-range ballistic missiles that traveled an estimated 500 km (311 miles) before landing in the sea off the country’s east coast. On Friday, Pyongyang announced it had tested a high-thrust solid-fuel engine that experts said would enable faster and more mobile launches of its ballistic missile arsenal.
At an emergency meeting on Sunday, senior South Korean security officials deplored what they described as North Korea’s continued provocations, which they say came despite “the plight of its citizens, who are groaning with hunger and cold because of serious food shortages.”
South Korea will respond by stepping up trilateral security cooperation with the United States and Japan, according to South Korea’s presidential office.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has promised to develop high-tech weapons – including spy satellites and tactical nuclear weapons – as a means of deterrence and providing real-time intelligence on military actions by the US and regional allies South Korea and Japan he claims threaten his country.
Pyongyang has tested an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles this year, including a Hwasong-17 ICBM – dubbed a “monster missile”, despite international sanctions.
On Friday, the Japanese government approved a national security strategy that would allow it to carry out pre-emptive strikes and double military spending to become more offensive against threats from China and North Korea.
The strategy marks a clear break with Japan’s purely self-defense military stance after World War II. The Japanese strategy cites China, ahead of North Korea and Russia, as the “biggest strategic challenge” to Japan’s efforts to ensure peace, security and stability.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also announced on Sunday that it had discovered a fleet of five Chinese warships, including an aircraft carrier, off the southern Japanese island of Okidaitojima the previous day. Ministry officials said that Chinese fighter jets and helicopters participated in take-off and landing exercises on the aircraft carrier and that Japan responded by grounding fighter jets and sending a destroyer to the area.