North Korea shows Kim Jong Un examining a military spy satellite

North Korean state media circulated images of leader Kim Jong Un's inspection of what it said was a spy satellite due to launch soon.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’a leader examined a finished military spy satellite , which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the U.S. and South Korea.

Kim Jong Un during Tuesday’s visit approved an unspecified “future action plan” in preparations for launching the satellite, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn’t disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea’s ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellite’s capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low resolution.

Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday’s visit showed Kim and his daughter — dressed in white lab coats — talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

KCNA said the satellite was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists examined the device’s assembly and put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.

South Korea’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said North Korea has yet to inform international maritime and telecommunication authorities of any launch plans. It said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various U.N. Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and “threaten regional peace and stability.”

“The announcing of the satellite launch plan shows yet again that the North Korean regime is preoccupied with continuing its illegal provocations while ignoring the plight of its people,” the ministry said in a statement, in referring to North Korea’s broken economy and deepening international isolation.

The visit was Kim’s first public appearance in about a month, following a previous visit to the aerospace center on April 18 as state media announced that the satellite had been built.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the country’s defense as “U.S. imperialists and [South] Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves” against the North, KCNA said.

He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, and the allies’ discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired about 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The next step in North Korea’s launch preparations, or the “future action plan” state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.

Depending on how North Korean preparations go, the launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September or October, the professor said.

Recent commercial satellite images indicate rapid construction activities at North Korea’s northwest rocket launch facility, where the country last conducted a satellite launch in 2016, the North Korea-focused 38 North website said Monday. The activities include construction on the facility’s main satellite launch pad and possible efforts to establish a new launch pad at the edge of the site near the sea, 38 North said in its report.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submariners, hypersonic missiles and multiwarhead missiles.

North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first flight-test of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional.

In response to North Korean plans to launch a military spy satellite, Japan’s military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on Japanese territory.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea. The U.N. Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.

North Korea has avoided new Security Council sanctions for its recent ballistic tests in 2022 and this year as Moscow and Beijing continue to block U.S.-led efforts to dial up pressure on Pyongyang, underscoring a divide between the council’s permanent members that deepened over Russia’s war on Ukraine .

朝鲜官方媒体发布了领导人金正恩视察据称即将发射的间谍卫星的图片。

韩国首尔——朝鲜一位领导人在参观一家航空航天设施时，视察了一颗已完成的军用间谍卫星，朝鲜预计很快将发射该卫星。他表示，天基侦察对于对抗美国和韩国至关重要。

朝鲜官方通讯社朝中社周三报道称，金正恩在周二的访问中批准了一项未具体说明的“未来行动计划”，为发射卫星做准备。朝鲜尚未公布发射的具体日期，但一些分析人士认为可能在未来几周内进行。

此次发射将使用联合国安理会过去决议禁止的远程导弹技术，尽管此前的导弹和火箭试验已经证明朝鲜有能力将卫星送入太空。

然而，关于这颗卫星的性能，仍存在更多疑问。一些韩国分析人士指出，朝鲜官方媒体照片中显示的这颗卫星似乎太小，设计也过于粗糙，难以支持高分辨率成像。朝鲜媒体此前发布的导弹发射照片分辨率也很低。

《劳动新闻》周二发布的照片​​显示，金正恩及其女儿身穿白色实验服，在疑似卫星主要部件的物体附近与科学家交谈。该报并未说明该物体的具体身份，该物体周围拉起了警戒线。

朝中社报道称，科学家们检查了卫星的组装情况，并对其进行了测试，以确认其能够承受太空环境，之后该卫星被认为已准备好装载到火箭上。

韩国外交部表示，朝鲜尚未向国际海事和电信机构通报任何发射计划。韩国外交部称，朝鲜发射卫星将违反联合国安理会多项禁止朝鲜进行任何涉及弹道技术的发射活动的决议，并“威胁地区和平与稳定”。

“朝鲜宣布卫星发射计划再次表明，朝鲜政权一心只想继续其非法挑衅行为，却对人民的困境置之不理，”该部在一份声明中表示，指的是朝鲜崩溃的经济和日益加深的国际孤立。

这是金正恩近一个月来的首次公开露面。此前，他曾于4月18日访问过该航天中心，当时朝鲜官方媒体宣布该卫星已经建成。

据朝中社报道，金正恩表示，获得间谍卫星对于加强国家国防至关重要，因为“美国帝国主义和（韩国）傀儡恶势力正在升级对朝鲜的对抗行动”。

他显然指的是美国和韩国扩大联合军事演习，以及两国就加强核威慑战略以应对朝鲜威胁进行的讨论。自 2022 年初以来，朝鲜已试射了约 100 枚导弹。

首尔朝鲜大学教授金东烨表示，朝鲜发射准备工作的下一步，或者说朝鲜官方媒体提到的“未来行动计划”，可能是将卫星安装在很可能是三级火箭上。

这位教授表示，发射最早可能在6月中旬进行，但平壤也可能选择在7月、9月或10月的重要国家纪念日期间进行。

据专注于朝鲜事务的新闻网站“38 North”周一报道，近期商业卫星图像显示，朝鲜西北部火箭发射场正在进行快速建设活动。该发射场是朝鲜上一次进行卫星发射是在2016年。“38 North”在其报道中称，这些活动包括对该发射场主卫星发射台的建设，以及可能在靠近海边的场地边缘新建一个发射台。

间谍卫星是金正恩誓言要研发的一系列先进武器系统之一。他的其他愿望清单上还包括固体燃料洲际弹道导弹、核动力潜艇、高超音速导弹和多弹头导弹。

朝鲜近几个月来测试了其中一些武器，包括上个月首次试射固体燃料洲际弹道导弹，但专家表示，朝鲜可能需要更多时间和技术突破才能使这些系统投入使用。

为应对朝鲜发射军事间谍卫星的计划，日本军方上个月命令部队启动导弹拦截器，准备击落可能落入日本领土的卫星碎片。

朝鲜分别于2012年和2016年将第一颗和第二颗地球观测卫星送入轨道，但外国专家表示，这两颗卫星均未向朝鲜传回图像。联合国安理会就此对朝鲜实施了制裁。

朝鲜因其在 2022 年和今年进行的弹道试验而避免了安理会的新制裁，莫斯科和北京继续阻止美国领导的加大对平壤施压的努力，这凸显了安理会常任理事国之间的分歧，而这种分歧因俄罗斯对乌克兰的战争而加深。