The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has announced that the country has completed the construction of its first military spy satellite and authorized its launch, according to state media reports. The announcement comes just a week after Pyongyang claimed to have launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile with solid fuel, which is a significant advancement in its weapons program.
During his visit to the National Aerospace Development Administration on Tuesday, Kim instructed officials to “firmly establish satellite intelligence collection capabilities, with the presence of various reconnaissance satellites in different orbits.” The images released by the state media show Kim’s visit to the space agency with his daughter, with texts, graphics, and monitors blurred in some of the pictures.
The development of military reconnaissance satellites was one of the main defense projects presented by Kim in 2021. He said on Tuesday that obtaining this technology was a “top priority task that must be completed indispensably” against what he considers threats and aggression from the United States and South Korea.
In December 2022, North Korea announced that it had completed an “important final test” for the satellite’s development, stating that it would be completed in April. At the time, South Korean analysts expressed doubts about the test and highlighted the poor quality of the black-and-white images released by Pyongyang, which were supposedly taken by a satellite.
The secretive communist country has not disclosed a date for the satellite launch.
