North Korea says it has launched a military spy satellite. The South Korean military reported this, a few hours after Japan was warned by Pyongyang that a launch was imminent.
“North Korea has launched ‘a military surveillance satellite’ towards the South,” the South Korean army chief said. The official North Korean news agency KCNA confirmed that the launch of the reconnaissance satellite was “successful”. The rocket followed the planned trajectory “and succeeded in placing the Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit,” it said.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has already condemned the launch in the “strongest possible terms”. “Although they call this a satellite, launching an object that uses ballistic missile technology is clearly a violation of UN resolutions,” he said.
North Korea has failed twice this year in its attempt to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. The US and its allies South Korea and Japan had condemned the failed North Korean missile launches in May and August. They accuse North Korea of using technology directly related to their ballistic missile program.
UN resolutions ban North Korea from launching ballistic missiles regardless of range. Depending on their design, such missiles can also be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
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