North Korea performed data transmission and other key tests needed to develop a spy satellite, the second such test in about a week, indicating the country intends to conduct a UN-prohibited long-range rocket launch soon, North Korean state media said yesterday.
The moves come as the country has conducted a spate of ballistic missile launches in what experts said is an attempt to add new weapons systems to its arsenal and pressure the US into making concessions amid stalled diplomacy.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the government conducted “another important test” the previous day under its plan to develop a reconnaissance satellite, adding that the satellite’s data transmission, reception and ground-based control systems were tested.
Photo: AP
North Korea on Monday last week said it tested a camera designed to be placed on a reconnaissance satellite and released space-based photos of Earth.
A spy satellite is among a long wish-list of new weapons systems that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has vowed to introduce to cope with what he calls US hostility. To operate a reconnaissance satellite, North Korea must launch a long-range rocket to put it into orbit.
The UN bans such launches by North Korea because it considers them to be a cover for testing its long-range missile technology.
The photos the country released were not high-resolution images, suggesting the country failed in this effort, said analyst Cheong Seong-chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea.
“While it may succeed in what it calls a ‘reconnaissance satellite launch,’ it would still likely take a very long time for North Korea to obtain militarily meaningful reconnaissance technology because of powerful international sanctions that restrict its import of high-tech equipment and its poor civilian technology,” Cheong said.
North Korea put its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but some experts said that neither of them transmitted any imagery back to North Korea.
Those launches are believed to have contributed to North Korea’s missile development program. In 2017, North Korea carried out three intercontinental ballistic missile tests that analysts said demonstrated a potential ability to launch nuclear strikes on the US.
Experts said North Korea would likely conduct a spy satellite launch ahead of a major political anniversary in April, the 110th birthday of state founder Kim Il-sung, the late grandfather of Kim Jong-un.
Earlier this year, North Korea test-fired a variety of sophisticated nuclear-capable missiles, including one that analysts said places the US Pacific territory of Guam within striking distance.
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