North Korea has announced that it has carried out a test of "
great importance
" for the development of a reconnaissance satellite, state media reported on Monday (February 28th), the day after a ballistic missile launch spotted by Seoul.
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Despite draconian international sanctions, Pyongyang carried out a record series of weapons tests in January, before suspending its firing for the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
On Sunday, the South Korean military said it detected the launch of a ballistic missile.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency later reported that the missile may have been fired from a moving launcher at a steep angle, which could indicate a medium-range ballistic missile.
However, North Korea's official KCNA news agency said government agencies conducted a test on Sunday "
of great significance for the development of the reconnaissance satellite
".
The operation was denounced on Monday by the American mission to the UN as a "
clear violation
" of numerous UN resolutions, threatening North Korea with international sanctions and urging it to choose "
the path of diplomacy
".
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According to KCNA, the satellite test has "
confirmed the characteristics and operating accuracy of the high-definition photography system, data transmission system and attitude control devices
".
These included "
making vertical and oblique photographs of a specific area of the earth with cameras that will be carried on the reconnaissance satellite
", KCNA added.
Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, has published two photographs that appear to show the Korean peninsula as seen from space.
The development of a military reconnaissance satellite - along with the newly tested hypersonic weapons - is one of the major defense projects announced by leader Kim Jong Un last year.
Analysts say the development of a reconnaissance satellite provides the North with cover to test banned intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) because the long-range rockets share the same technology.
“
North Korea has long been suspected of using space launches as a cover for testing rockets intended for use as ballistic missiles
,” analyst Joshua H. Pollack wrote on Twitter.
"
Space launches could offer Kim Jong Un a legal way to circumvent his April 2018 promise to 'suspend' intercontinental ballistic missile testing
," said Pollack, a senior associate fellow at the Institute for International Studies. Middlebury.
