On April 1, North Korea announced that it has planned to launch at least 3 more spy satellites into Earth’s orbit by the end of the year. North Korea put its first spy satellite in orbit in November of this year, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Pak Kyong-su, the vice director of the North Korean National Aerospace Technology Administration said that the “successful launch of the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 last year has brought about substantial progress in national defense capabilities and several launches are expected for this year as well”.
In reaction to this announcement, the South Korean Unification Ministry spokesperson Koo Byung-sam announced that “We will not make any predictions about the possibility of launching a military satellite in the future, but will prepare for all possibilities through close cooperation with relevant organizations” according to UPI.
The Unification Ministry is in charge of diplomatic relations between North and South Korea.
This comes as North Korea has publicly displayed other military technological developments, such as hypersonic missiles, and a new tank variant, and has also increased its military posturing.
