(Seoul) – North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said Saturday that leader Kim Jong Un reviewed images taken by North Korea’s first satellite of “targeted areas,” including those of the US military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and various sites in South Korea. .
Pyongyang successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit earlier this week, but Seoul said it was too early to claim, as Pyongyang claims, that it was working.
Experts say an operational spy satellite would improve North Korea’s quest for intelligence, especially about its southern rival, by providing access to critical data ahead of a military conflict.
The Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday that Kim reviewed images taken by his satellite called “Malejeong-1” over the US state of Hawaii around 5 a.m., including images of “a naval base in Pearl Harbor, from Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu.”
“enemy zone”
Kim also looked at satellite images taken around 10 a.m. on Saturday, according to Pyongyang, over the South Korean port city of Busan, where the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was seen.
The US warship arrived at the Busan Naval Base on Tuesday, according to the South Korean military.
The agency added that Kim Jong Un also reviewed “key target areas in enemy territory,” referring to the south, including Jinhae, Busan, Ulsan, Pohang, Daegu and Gangneung.
Hours after entering orbit on Tuesday, Pyongyang claimed Kim had seen photos of US military bases on Guam.
KCNA also reported that Kim on Friday reviewed photos of “key target areas” on the South Korean Peninsula, especially Seoul and Pyongtaek, where South Korean and US military bases are located.
Pyeongtaek is located about 60 kilometers from Seoul and is home to Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas US military facility in the world. There is also Osan Air Base, home to the Seoul Air Force Operations Command and a US air base.
The images taken on Friday also include some areas in the north, according to KCNA.
North Korea’s National Space Technology Administration is expected to conduct an “additional modification” of its satellite on Saturday morning, KCNA said.
Placing the North Korean satellite into orbit led to the partial suspension by the South and the complete suspension by the North of the military agreement concluded five years ago to ease bilateral tensions.
Doubt in Seoul
The US State Department said in a statement on Friday that senior diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the United States “strongly condemned the launch” and its “destabilizing impact in the region.”
He added that Pyongyang “used ballistic missile technology in violation of a number of United Nations Security Council resolutions.”
After two failed attempts, Pyongyang received help from Moscow to successfully place its satellite into orbit, according to Seoul’s intelligence services.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said on Thursday that spy satellites were unable to capture images on the first day of their launch, casting doubt on Pyongyang’s claims, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
He explained on a radio station: “Even if the satellite enters its orbit (successfully), it takes a large amount of time to carry out a normal reconnaissance mission.”
Pyongyang has been banned, under a succession of UN resolutions, from conducting experiments using ballistic technology. Analysts say there is significant technological compatibility between space launch capabilities and ballistic missile development.
“If Russia had provided North Korea with a satellite reconnaissance camera this time, I think it would be possible to identify objects within a radius of at least two meters on the ground,” Ahn Chan said. Resident in the European Union.
He added that now that Pyongyang has its own spy satellite, North Korea’s next step will likely be to further develop its “strategic nuclear weapons” using space launch capabilities.
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