 |
| ▲ This photo, carried by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 19, 2022, shows the North conducting "an "important final-stage test" at Sohae Satellite Launching Ground in Cholsan, North Pyongan Province, for the development of a reconnaissance satellite the previous day. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) N Korea-space vehicle
(LEAD) N. Korea fires what it claims to be 'space launch vehicle' southward: S. Korean military
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout: ADDS photo)
SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired what it claims to be a "space launch vehicle" southward Wednesday, the South Korean military said, after it unveiled a plan for the launch earlier this week despite international criticism and warning.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the projectile flew over the Yellow Sea and did not affect the Seoul metropolitan area. It did not elaborate, pending an analysis.
The North notified Japan and the International Maritime Organization of its plan earlier this week to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11 despite criticism that it would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology.
Soon after the launch, President Yoon Suk Yeol called a security meeting to discuss it, his office said.
On Tuesday, Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, made the launch plan official, defending its pursuit of the satellite and other reconnaissance means as "indispensable" to cope with "dangerous military acts" of the United States and South Korea.
The North has been striving to secure the space-based reconnaissance asset as part of key defense projects unveiled at the eighth congress of its ruling party in early 2021.
Observers said that the North appears intent to secure intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets as it is far behind the allies in ISR capabilities despite its focus on developing an array of formidable weapons systems, such as submarine-launched ballistic missiles and tactical nuclear arms.
In the runup to the launch, South Korea "strongly" warned that it will make Pyongyang pay "due prices" should the launch go ahead.
The chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan also warned the North would face a "stern, unified" response from the international community.
The rocket launch marks the North's first such provocation since it fired what it claimed to be a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile on April 13.
(END)
(C) Yonhap News Agency. All Rights Reserved
