North Korea confirms launch of military spy satellite to counter US-South Korea drills

North Korea declares its intent to satellite launch

Interesting Engineering had previously reported that North Korea had informed its neighbor, Japan, about an upcoming satellite launch in June. As per the report, the trajectory of the launch is expected to cross the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, where the southwestern region of Japan lies.

This area is also the location where the U.S. has its military bases and is home to thousands of troops. Japan has vowed to shoot down the satellite or the debris from the launch if it enters its airspace and has plans to mobilize Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) or Patriot Missile PAC-3 for this mission.

A day later, North Korea revealed the true intentions behind the launch and confirmed that it plans to launch a military spy satellite. The country's senior military official Ri Pyong Chol has said that space-based reconnaissance was "indispensable" after the U.S. and South Korea conducted military exercises in the region.

Last week, the U.S. and South Korean militaries conducted live-fire drills near the border of North Korea, as part of an exercise to mark 70 years of formation of the alliance. These exercises were the first of five rounds that the alliance has plans to undertake. North Korea, however, views them as "preparation for preemptive military action," AP reported.

With the spy satellite, Pyongyang hopes to collect real-time and reliable information on troop movements in the region. Foreign experts, however, are not convinced. In their opinion, previous satellite launches from North Korea have not transmitted back any imagery to the country and even the latest iteration of the spy satellite looks too small and crude to deliver high-resolution imagery.

Spy satellites are, however, a part of the array of high-tech weapons that Kim Jong Un has publicly vowed to develop, alongside intercontinental missiles, hypersonic missiles, and nuclear-powered submarines.