SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects a completed military spy satellite the country will soon launch during a visit to an aerospace facility, suggesting that reconnaissance from space is essential to countering the United States.
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported Wednesday that Kim had approved an unspecified “future action plan” for the satellite launch during his visit on Tuesday. North Korea has not announced a target launch date, with some analysts suggesting it could be within the next few weeks.
The launch would use long-range missile technology, which has been banned by previous UN Security Council resolutions, but previous missiles and missile tests have challenged North Korea’s ability to launch satellites into space.
But there are other questions about satellite performance. Some South Korean analysts have argued that the satellite pictured in North Korean state media photos is too small and poorly designed to support high-definition imagery. Photos of past missile launches released by North Korean media were low resolution.
A photo of Tuesday’s visit, published by the Rodong Shinmun, showed Kim in a white coat and his daughter talking to scientists near what is believed to be a key component of the satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object that was surrounded by the bureaucratic cordon.
KCNA said the satellite was ready to be mounted on a rocket after scientists inspected the assembly of the device and conducted tests to see if it could withstand the space environment.
