Kim Jong-un orders launch of satellite to spy on US and South Korea

Kim Jong-un ordered the speedy launch of North Korea’s first reconnaissance satellite to improve ‘self-defensive military capabilities’ and ‘for pre-emptive military power’.

Kim Jong-un and his daughter inspecting the National Aerospace Development Administration. Picture: STR/Getty Images/The Times

Kim Jong-un has ordered the launch of a spy satellite to gather intelligence and to help enable potential pre-emptive attacks on the United States and South Korea.

On a visit to North Korea’s space agency Kim ordered the speedy launch of the country’s first reconnaissance satellite, which was finished this month, according to state media. If successful, the technology could allow North Korea to monitor other countries’ military installations and detect potential preparations for an attack against it.

“Possession of such a satellite is a primary task to be indispensably fulfilled to bolster up the armed forces,” Kim was quoted as telling an audience of scientists and soldiers.

Earlier this month Kim visited the test site of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Picture: Korean Central News Agency/AP/The Times

He said that the purpose of the satellite was to improve “self-defensive military capabilities, [to defend] the people from the escalating military threat … of the US and South Korea, and for … pre-emptive military power”.

The reference to “pre-emptive power” will cause concern among foreign observers, coming from a state with nuclear warheads and an increasingly large collection of ballistic missiles of all ranges. It suggests a willingness to fire first if North Korea believed, correctly or not, that it was about to be attacked.

Military tension on the peninsula has been building all year, as North Korean weapons tests are met with joint exercises by the powerful US and South Korean armed forces. These have included the use of aircraft carriers and strategic bombers.

“It is quite natural [for North Korea] to develop its military deterrence strong enough to cope with the serious security environment at present,” said Kim, who was accompanied by his young daughter, Ju-ae.

“Possessing and operating military reconnaissance means is the most crucial primary task for increasing the military effectiveness and utility of different war-deterrence means.”

North Korea has a long history of satellite development but its successes have been matched by several failures. In the early days of its development of ballistic missiles, weapons tests were presented as the launch of rocket-bearing satellites, although this was dismissed as a pretext by the US and South Korea.

The North Korean leader ordered the launch of a satellite to spy on other countries. Picture: STR/Getty Images/The Times

In 2012, a rocket carrying a satellite fell apart 90 seconds after launch, a failure mostly notable because the government admitted to it on state television. Later that year, it reported that a satellite called the Kwangmyongsong-3 was successfully launched, although the US government later said it was not functioning properly.

Last December, state media published low-resolution black-and-white photographs of the South Korean cities of Seoul and Incheon, which they said had been taken during an “important final-stage test” involving a mock satellite.

Japan’s top government spokesman, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, said any satellite launch “poses a threat to the peace and safety of our country and the international community and is utterly unacceptable”.

He added: “If they go ahead with the launch using ballistic missile technology, even under the name of a satellite, it clearly violates United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

The Times