2023-11-21 02:28:38
– North Korea warns of imminent satellite launch
Pyongyang has warned Tokyo of a third launch attempt, between Wednesday and December 1, of a military satellite.
Posted today at 3:28 a.m. Updated 42 minutes ago
Kim Jong Un on October 19, 2023 in Pyongyang.
AFP
North Korea informed Japan of its intention to launch a satellite as early as Wednesday, according to Tokyo, defying warnings from Seoul and United Nations resolutions banning Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technologies.
This possible new launch attempt, which might take place between Wednesday and December 1 according to the Japanese coast guard agency, would be the third, following two failures to put a military satellite into orbit last May and August.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Tuesday morning that he had instructed his ministers and government agencies “to do their utmost to collect information and transmit it to the Japanese population, to request the cancellation of the launch in cooperation with the countries concerned and to do everything possible to prepare for unpredictable situations. Any use of ballistic missile technology would violate United Nations resolutions, he warned, adding that Japan was coordinating its response with its partners South Korea and the United States under a trilateral defense agreement.
On Monday, the South Korean military warned North Korea to “immediately” stop its preparations for the launch of a spy satellite, warning Pyongyang that it would take “necessary measures” if necessary. And in early November, Seoul’s intelligence services estimated that Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for its third attempt.
Reconciliation with Moscow
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said on Sunday that takeoff might take place as early as this week. “We strongly advise North Korea (…) to immediately suspend ongoing preparations for the launch of a military spy satellite,” Kang Hopil, director of operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned on Monday. “If North Korea launches a military reconnaissance satellite despite our warning, our military will take the necessary measures to guarantee the lives and safety of the population,” he added.
After a second failed attempt in August, Pyongyang announced that it would carry out the third launch in October, but it did not happen.
North Korea, whose recent rapprochement with Russia worries the United States and its South Korean and Japanese allies, according to Seoul, also supplies weapons to Moscow in exchange for Russian space technologies aimed at putting a satellite into orbit. military espionage. At the beginning of November, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced the “growing and dangerous” military ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, following a visit to South Korea.
Analysts believe there is a significant technological coincidence between space launch capabilities and the development of ballistic missiles, which Pyongyang has been banned from under multiple U.N. sanctions.
North Korea has carried out a record number of weapons 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 said it had successfully conducted ground tests of a “new type” of solid fuel engine for its banned intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), calling them a crucial step in “the serious context and unstable in terms of security.
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