North Korea has launched a “crucial” test for the development of a reconnaissance satellite, state media reported today, the day after the launch of what South Korea considered to be a medium-range ballistic missile.
Despite draconian international sanctions, Pyongyang launched a record-breaking arms test in January before suspending launches for the Beijing Winter Olympics.
On Sunday, the South Korean General Staff announced that it had spotted a ballistic missile launch from North Korea. Yonhap reported that the rocket was probably hit by a self-propelled launcher, after it was lifted on a steep slope, which, according to the South Korean news agency, implied that it was a medium-range ballistic missile.
However, North Korea’s official news agency, the KCNA, said government agencies had conducted a test on Sunday “of great importance for the development of satellite reconnaissance”.
According to the KCNA, the satellite test “confirmed the characteristics and accuracy of the operation of the high-definition photography system, the data transmission system and the altitude control means”.
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the ruling North Korean Workers’ Party, published two photos depicting the Korean peninsula from space.
The development of a military reconnaissance satellite, as well as recently tested supersonic weapons, was among the top defense plans announced by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last year.
Analysts say the development of satellite reconnaissance provides North Korea with test coverage for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), as the missiles used to launch satellites share virtually the same technology.
“North Korea has long been suspected of using such launches” as a cover for tests “by ICBMs, analyst Joshua Pollack said via Twitter. The space tests “may offer Kim Jong Un a legitimate way to circumvent his promise in April 2018 to ‘suspend’ intercontinental ballistic missile tests,” added Pollack, a researcher at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies.
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