North Korea carried out a missile test on Wednesday, South Korea said, after Seoul announced the return of aerial surveillance in response to the recent launch of a North Korean spy satellite.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they detected the missile launch from the Pyongyang region and directed it to the eastern maritime area, adding that the launch must have failed.
This North Korean launch – the first weapons launch in more than two months – came hours after South Korea announced it had decided to partially suspend an agreement with North Korea and restart aerial surveillance of the border.
The South Korean military confirmed that the North Korean spy satellite has entered orbit, but has not yet been able to assess whether it is fully operational.
North Korean state media assure that the satellite has already broadcast images with space images of important military sites in the territory of Guam, in the Pacific Ocean, but they have not released the photos, so several experts remain skeptical about whether the North Korean satellite it has advanced sufficiently to conduct significant military reconnaissance.
Despite doubts about the launch, the United States has already condemned this action by the Pyongyang regime.
North Korea claims it has sovereign and legitimate rights to launch spy satellites to counter what it calls growing threats led by the United States.
However, UN Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launch by North Korea, seeing it as a way to test its long-range missile technology.
Heo Tae-keun, South Korea’s vice minister of defense policy, said Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite was not only a clear violation of U.N. resolutions but also “a serious provocation that threatens national security.”
The official explained that Seoul decided to respond by partially suspending an agreement it had made with Pyongyang since 2018 and resuming air surveillance activities at the border, adding that the South Korean government “immediately and firmly will punish.”
The 2018 agreement – signed during a brief period of reconciliation between the two countries – created buffer and no-fly zones along the heavily fortified border.
Under the agreement, the two countries were required to halt aerial reconnaissance and live fire exercises on the front lines.
Source: DN
