Seoul, South Korea CNN –
North Korea said on Wednesday it had put its first spy satellite into orbit and announced further launches to deter what it called “dangerous military maneuvers by its enemies.”
Analysts said if the spacecraft works, it could significantly improve North Korea’s military capabilities and, among other things, allow it to more accurately target opponents’ forces.
The satellite, named Malligyong-1, was launched late Tuesday on a new launch vehicle, Chollima-1, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
“Launching a reconnaissance satellite is North Korea’s legal right to strengthen its right to self-defense,” the KCNA report said.
Neither South Korea, the United States nor Japan, all of which are suffering from rising military tensions with North Korea, could confirm that the satellite had made it into orbit.
But South Korea called the launch a “clear violation” of a U.N. Security Council resolution banning North Korea from using ballistic missile technology.
And on Wednesday morning, the South Korean government partially suspended an agreement with North Korea that restricted the South’s reconnaissance and surveillance activities along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two countries.
Rodong Sinmun
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrates the satellite launch with workers on Tuesday evening in an image provided by state media.
The rocket carrying the satellite was fired in a southerly direction and is believed to have flown over Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch, calling it “a serious situation” that “affects the security” of the people of Japan, while reaffirming his commitment to continue working with the United States and South Korea to respond to Pyongyang’s launches.
In a statement on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said it had been following preparations for the launch in close cooperation with the United States.
The statement said Aegis destroyers from South Korea, the United States and Japan had been deployed to monitor the launch and information about the details was being comprehensively analyzed.
Japanese Defense Minister Hiroyuki Miyazawa said his country was still trying to determine whether the North Korean satellite had reached orbit.
Pyongyang attempted to put a satellite into orbit for the first time in late May, but the second stage of the rocket carrying the satellite failed and it fell into the sea.
KCNA said “the reliability and stability of the new engine system” was “low” and the fuel used was “unstable”, which led to the mission’s failure.
A second attempt failed in August when “a failure occurred in the emergency explosive system during third stage flight,” a KCNA report said at the time.
According to Japanese officials, the missile broke into several pieces before falling into the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
In a defiant speech to the UN Security Council after the second failed launch, North Korean Ambassador Kim Song stressed that continuing the spy satellite program was within the country’s “legitimate right as a sovereign state.” He denied that North Korea was attempting to acquire intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology through the satellite launch.
The third attempt on Tuesday evening was widely expected and announced by Pyongyang, which vowed early Wednesday to launch more.
North Korea’s National Aeronautics and Space Development Agency will put forward a plan to “ensure the reconnaissance capability of the South Korean region… through the additional launch of multiple reconnaissance satellites in a short period of time,” KCNA said.
Pyongyang said its possession of a satellite was a legitimate self-defense measure against what it said were a series of provocations by the United States, South Korea and Japan.
Earlier this week, North Korea condemned the US over its potential sales of advanced missiles to Japan and military equipment to South Korea, calling it “a dangerous act” in a report by KCNA.
North Korea said it was “obvious” who the offensive military equipment would target and against whom it would be used.
Analysts said even a single satellite in orbit helps North Korea’s military posture.
“If it works, it will enhance the North Korean military’s command, control and communications/intelligence and surveillance capabilities. “It would improve the North’s ability to command its forces in any potential conflict,” said Carl Schuster, former director of operations at U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center.
“The satellite will give them a capability that they’ve lacked so far that can help them with military targeting, it can help them with damage assessment,” said Ankit Panda, nuclear policy fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
And lessons learned from Tuesday’s launch will be used in the development of future satellites, Panda said.
“They will apply what they learned from this successful launch to future launches. “They will try to have a resilient, redundant constellation of Earth observation satellites, and that will make a pretty big difference to (North Korea’s) overall strategic situational awareness capabilities,” he said.
But others warned that the actual capabilities of what Pyongyang launched late Tuesday remain to be seen. Some said the North had more to lose from the South resuming intelligence gathering along the border than it would gain from the satellite launch.
“The surveillance drone operations that Seoul may soon begin along the DMZ should provide more useful information than North Korea’s rudimentary satellite program,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said last Sunday that the North is believed to have “almost solved” its rocket engine problems “with Russia’s help.”
This came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Russia in September when he toured the Russian missile launch site with President Vladimir Putin.
At this meeting, Putin signaled his willingness to help North Korea develop its space and satellite programs.
However, Panda cautioned against assuming that Russia’s help and advice was crucial to a successful third launch.
“Given the timeline here, it seems unlikely to me that the North Koreans have already received and implemented technical assistance from Russia,” he said.
“Let us also remember that the North Koreans themselves are remarkably capable at this point.”