{"id":6988,"date":"2023-05-17T18:37:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T17:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=6988"},"modified":"2023-05-17T19:15:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T18:15:22","slug":"north-korea-says-kim-jong-un-is-investigating-a-military-spy-satellite-that-could-be-launched-soon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/analysis\/defense\/north-korea-says-kim-jong-un-is-investigating-a-military-spy-satellite-that-could-be-launched-soon\/2023\/05\/17\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Kim Jong-un is investigating a military spy satellite for launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

SEOUL,<\/span> South<\/span> Korea<\/span> (AP)<\/span> –<\/span> North<\/span> Korean<\/span> leader<\/span> Kim<\/span> Jong-un<\/span> inspects<\/span> a<\/span> completed<\/span> military<\/span> spy<\/span> satellite<\/span> the<\/span> country<\/span> will<\/span> soon<\/span> launch<\/span> during<\/span> a<\/span> visit<\/span> to<\/span> an<\/span> aerospace<\/span> facility,<\/span> suggesting<\/span> that<\/span> reconnaissance<\/span> from<\/span> space<\/span> is<\/span> essential<\/span> to<\/span> countering<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>North<\/span> Korea’s<\/span> state-run<\/span> Korean<\/span> Central<\/span> News<\/span> Agency<\/span> reported<\/span> Wednesday<\/span> that<\/span> Kim<\/span> had<\/span> approved<\/span> an<\/span> unspecified<\/span> “future<\/span> action<\/span> plan”<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> satellite<\/span> launch<\/span> during<\/span> his<\/span> visit<\/span> on<\/span> Tuesday.<\/span> North<\/span> Korea<\/span> has<\/span> not<\/span> announced<\/span> a<\/span> target<\/span> launch<\/span> date,<\/span> with<\/span> some<\/span> analysts<\/span> suggesting<\/span> it<\/span> could<\/span> be<\/span> within<\/span> the<\/span> next<\/span> few<\/span> weeks.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> launch<\/span> would<\/span> use<\/span> long-range<\/span> missile<\/span> technology,<\/span> which<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> banned<\/span> by<\/span> previous<\/span> UN<\/span> Security<\/span> Council<\/span> resolutions,<\/span> but<\/span> previous<\/span> missiles<\/span> and<\/span> missile<\/span> tests<\/span> have<\/span> challenged<\/span> North<\/span> Korea’s<\/span> ability<\/span> to<\/span> launch<\/span> satellites<\/span> into<\/span> space.<\/span><\/p>\n

But<\/span> there<\/span> are<\/span> other<\/span> questions<\/span> about<\/span> satellite<\/span> performance.<\/span> Some<\/span> South<\/span> Korean<\/span> analysts<\/span> have<\/span> argued<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> satellite<\/span> pictured<\/span> in<\/span> North<\/span> Korean<\/span> state<\/span> media<\/span> photos<\/span> is<\/span> too<\/span> small<\/span> and<\/span> poorly<\/span> designed<\/span> to<\/span> support<\/span> high-definition<\/span> imagery.<\/span> Photos<\/span> of<\/span> past<\/span> missile<\/span> launches<\/span> released<\/span> by<\/span> North<\/span> Korean<\/span> media<\/span> were<\/span> low<\/span> resolution.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> photo<\/span> of<\/span> Tuesday’s<\/span> visit,<\/span> published<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> Rodong<\/span> Shinmun,<\/span> showed<\/span> Kim<\/span> in<\/span> a<\/span> white<\/span> coat<\/span> and<\/span> his<\/span> daughter<\/span> talking<\/span> to<\/span> scientists<\/span> near<\/span> what<\/span> is<\/span> believed<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> a<\/span> key<\/span> component<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> satellite.<\/span> The<\/span> newspaper<\/span> did<\/span> not<\/span> identify<\/span> the<\/span> object<\/span> that<\/span> was<\/span> surrounded<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> bureaucratic<\/span> cordon.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>KCNA<\/span> said<\/span> the<\/span> satellite<\/span> was<\/span> ready<\/span> to<\/span> be<\/span> mounted<\/span> on<\/span> a<\/span> rocket<\/span> after<\/span> scientists<\/span> inspected<\/span> the<\/span> assembly<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> device<\/span> and<\/span> conducted<\/span> tests<\/span> to<\/span> see<\/span> if<\/span> it<\/span> could<\/span> withstand<\/span> the<\/span> space<\/span> environment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[26,276],"tags":[2574,2579,2580,2583,2891,3217,4212,4216,5039,5040,5041,5042,5043,546,5044,1551,5045,1552,5046],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/kim.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6988"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6999,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6988\/revisions\/6999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}