Kim Jong-un inspects North Korea’s 1st spy satellite
Seoul, May 17 (EFE).- North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, inspected the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite, which is ready to be loaded on a rocket, state media reported Wednesday.
Kim met the committee behind the development of the satellite before inspecting the satellite accompanied by his daughter on Tuesday, according to photos published by the state-run KCNA agency.
“After acquainting himself in detail with the work of the committee, he inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 which is ready for loading after undergoing the final general assembly check and space environment test,” KCNA said.
The images released show the satellite placed on a platform and connected to wiring as Kim and his daughter, wearing white caps and gowns and shoe covers to keep dirt out of the complex, are briefed by committee members.
Kim “approved the future action plan of the preparatory committee,” saying that “to successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite is an urgent requirement of the prevailing security environment of the country,” according to KCNA.
Launching the satellite will also be “a clear stride forward in developing the space military, science and technology of the country,” he added.
The leader stressed that “the more desperately the US imperialists and South Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves against the DPRK (North Korea’s official name), the more fairly, squarely and offensively the DPRK will exercise its sovereignty and just right to self-defense to deter them and defend the country.”
At the end of last year, the regime launched a test device that allegedly took photographs of the South Korean capital, Seoul, and the nearby port city of Incheon and announced that its objective was to launch a spy satellite into orbit by April.
The construction activities to renovate the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in the northwest of the country have recently restarted, although experts believe that there is still a lot of work to do before being able to launch a satellite from that site.
However, some experts do not rule out the possibility that the regime may choose to launch the reconnaissance satellite from a mobile platform. EFE
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