North Korea: North Korea has informed Japan that it intends to launch a satellite between May 27 and June 4 after successfully launching its first spy satellite into orbit on its third attempt in November.
The eight-day launch window, according to the Japanese Coastguard, started at midnight on Sunday and ran through Monday. North Korea has identified three maritime hazard zones close to the Korean Peninsula and the Philippine island of Luzon where the rocket’s debris-carrying satellites could land.
The announcement was made just before the first trilateral meeting between China, South Korea, and Japan in almost five years.
Following the warning, officials from the US, Japan, and South Korea spoke over the phone and asked Pyongyang to halt the plan since a satellite launch employing ballistic missile technology would be against UN resolutions, according to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Nuclear-trained After two failed efforts, North Korea launched its first spy satellite into orbit in November, a move that was widely condemned.
The launch was deemed a “brazen violation” of UN sanctions by the US. It occurred two months after Russian President Vladimir Putin met North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia and pledged technical aid to the isolated nation.
As part of his ongoing military modernization program, which saw a record number of nuclear tests in 2023, Kim Jong Un announced at the close of the previous year that Pyongyang will launch three more military spy satellites this year.
According to experts, spy satellites might help Pyongyang obtain more intelligence, especially over South Korea, and give vital information for any military confrontation.
Assumed preparations for the launch of a second military reconnaissance satellite were being “closely monitored and tracked,” Seoul announced on Friday, citing intelligence from both South Korea and the United States.
The suspected preparations were found in Cholsan County, North Korea’s Tongchang-ri, the location of the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground and the site of the prior launches.
According to Seoul, Russia provided North Korea with technical assistance for the satellite launch in exchange for Moscow delivering weaponry to use in the conflict in Ukraine.
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