North Korea has launched what it says is a military spy satellite to the South, the South Korean military said Tuesday, after Pyongyang warned Japan of an imminent launch, defying warnings from Seoul and UN resolutions banning it from using ballistic missile technology.
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North Korea has launched what it claims is a military surveillance satellite in the direction of the South," the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Japan, for its part, reported on North Korea's missile launch, which Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned in the "strongest possible terms." "We have already strongly protested against North Korea," Kishida said from his office in Tokyo.
"We are waiting to find out if there has been any damage"
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At the moment, we are waiting to find out if there has been any damage. And even if they call it a satellite, launching an object that uses ballistic missile technology is clearly a violation of United Nations resolutions," the Prime Minister stressed. "This is an important situation that affects the security of the Japanese people. We will continue to gather information and remain vigilant," he said.
When the launch was announced, the Japanese government briefly ordered residents of the Okinawa region, in the southwest of the archipelago, to take shelter. North Korea had earlier informed Japan of its intention to launch a satellite potentially as early as Wednesday, according to Tokyo, in a third attempt after two failed to launch a military satellite into orbit last May and August.
Likely Seoul 'countermeasures'
In August, North Korea designated three sea areas that could be affected by the launch planned at the time: two in the Yellow Sea, west of the Korean Peninsula, and a third in waters east of the Philippines. "The danger zones mentioned by North Korea this time correspond to those announced during their satellite launch project in August," a South Korean official was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
Seoul has been warning for weeks that Pyongyang is in the "final stages" of preparing for a new spy satellite launch. On Monday, South Korea's military warned North Korea to "immediately" halt its preparations for such an operation, warning Pyongyang that it would take "necessary measures" if necessary.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol could "suspend the 19/2018 military agreement," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP. The deal, reached in <> in Pyongyang, aims to reduce military tensions along the highly secure inter-Korean border by creating maritime "buffer zones." Tests of medium- or long-range solid-fuel ballistic missiles by Seoul "cannot be ruled out" either, Yang added.
U.S. Aircraft Carrier
North Korea's recent rapprochement with Russia has worried the United States and its South Korean and Japanese allies. According to Seoul, Pyongyang is supplying weapons to Moscow in exchange for Russian space technology. In early November, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the "growing and dangerous" military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, following a visit to South Korea. North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, despite international sanctions and warnings from the United States, South Korea and their allies.
It also declared its status as a nuclear power "irreversible". Last week, it announced that it had successfully conducted ground tests of a "new type" of solid-fuel engine for its banned intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs).
Seoul, Washington and Tokyo have stepped up their defense cooperation in the face of this situation. On Tuesday, a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, arrived at the Busan Naval Base in South Korea. The arrival is expected to strengthen the "position of allies in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats," as part of a recent agreement to improve the "steady visibility of U.S. strategic assets," the South Korean Navy said.