North Korea says it conducted ‘important’ spy satellite system test

State news agency KCNA said the test was carried out on Saturday, and came just days before presidential elections in South Korea.

South Korea’s military believe test was the firing of another ballistic missile by the North, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests this year

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People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news programme at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea on March 5. Photo: AP

Published: 8:30am, 6 Mar 2022

North Korea said it conducted another reconnaissance satellite test, launching its second rocket with ballistic missile capability in less than a week as global attention focuses on the Ukraine crisis and South Korea prepares for elections.

North Korea’s National Aerospace Development Administration and the Academy of Defence Science conducted an “important test on Saturday under the plan of developing a reconnaissance satellite,” its official Korean Central News Agency said Sunday.

The launch was involved in the testing of data transmission and reception, control command and other ground-based control systems, the state news agency said.

North Korea has long said it’s entitled under international law to have a civilian space programme but the United States and others have accused Pyongyang of using a satellite programme as a cover to bolster its ballistic missiles for the military.

South Korea said its neighbour to the North fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from an area near Pyongyang’s international airport at 8:48am. Saturday toward the sea off the country’s eastern coast. The projectile flew about 270 kilometres and reached an altitude of around 560km.

The US-Indo Pacific Command and the South’s presidential office condemned the latest launch, urging Pyongyang to refrain from making additional provocations.

Photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, centre, attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. The photo was taken in December 2021, according to the source. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File

Despite biting international sanctions over its nuclear weapons, Pyongyang has ignored US offers of talks since high-profile negotiations between leader Kim Jong-un and then-US president Donald Trump collapsed in 2019.