North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un says his country has finished building its first military spy satellite, state media report, giving green light for its launch
North Korean leader says gaining reconnaissance technology was a"primary task to be indispensably fulfilled" because of what he describes as threats and aggression from US and South Korea.
The report of its completion comes on Wednesday, about a week after Pyongyang launched what it said was a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, marking a major breakthrough in its banned weapons programmes. During a visit to North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration on Tuesday, he also called on staff to "firmly establish the satellite intelligence-gathering capability by deploying several reconnaissance satellites on different orbits in succession".
On Tuesday, he said gaining this reconnaissance technology was a "primary task to be indispensably fulfilled" because of what he described as threats and aggression from the United States and South Korea. Pyongyang has not provided a launch date, though on Tuesday, Kim said the satellite would be sent up "at the planned date"."It looks like the North will launch its 'symbolic' satellite for now, and upgrade it gradually," An Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told the AFP news agency.
"Since North Korea's reconnaissance satellites are an important factor in the event of a nuclear pre-emptive strike, they pose a significant threat to the South," he told AFP.
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