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
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 fires ballistic missile days before South’s election
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.
Instead of diplomacy, Pyongyang has doubled down on Kim’s drive to modernise its military, warning in January that it could abandon a self-imposed moratorium on testing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.
The launch drew condemnation from governments in the United States, South Korea, and Japan, which fear the North is preparing to conduct a major weapons test in coming months. They see the North’s satellite launches as thinly veiled tests of ballistic missile technology banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
North Korea last fired off a rocket February 27, which Pyongyang claimed a day later was a reconnaissance satellite test.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
