IRIA News

North Korea placed its first spy satellite Malligyong-1 into orbit on November 21, 2023, DPRK’s space agency said in a statement. The satellite was successfully launched using a new-type carrier rocket Chollima-1 after two failed attempts.

North Korean space agency National Aerospace Technology Administration said in a statement that the Malligyong-1 satellite was launched from the Sohae satellite launch facility on November 21 at 10:42 PM local time and entered orbit at 10:54 PM.

North Korean state news agency, KCNA reported that Pyongyang will continue to send multiple spy satellites into space to monitor South Korea and U.S. bases in the region as well as other regions of interest to North Korea’s armed forces.

A day after the satellite launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the General Control Center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) to observe the operation of the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1.

According to KCNA, Kim Jong Un watched “the aerospace photos of Anderson Air Force Base, Apra Harbor and other major military bases of the U.S. forces taken in the sky above Guam in the Pacific,” which were received at 9:21 AM local time on November 22.

U.S. and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan strongly condemned the North Korean satellite launch calling it a “brazen violation” of United Nations resolutions. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said, the satellite launch “raises tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond.”

In response to North Korea’s satellite launch, South Korea suspended part of the inter-Korean deal and said that it would enhance surveillance along the North Korean border.

G7 foreign ministers of the U.S., UK, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the European Union also condemned the DPRK satellite launch and called for a “swift, united, and robust” international response against North Korea, particularly by the United Nations Security Council.

US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korean port

North Korean satellite launch coincided with the arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson at South Korean port in Busan. South Korean Navy said that the U.S. aircraft arrived in South Korea to demonstrate extended deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat.

South Korean Rear Admiral Kim Ji-hoon said the arrival of the U.S. aircraft carrier demonstrated a “strong combined defense posture and a determined willingness to respond to North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats” by the U.S. and South Korean alliance.

North Korean leader Kim said that the United States aims to turn the region into an advanced base of its forces and nuclear arsenal by sending “nuclear carrier Carl Vinson and the nuclear-powered submarine Santa Fe to the South Korean region.”

Kim added that North Korea would “closely monitor and grasp the nature of such maneuvers of the U.S.”, that he claimed are endangering the regional military situation and the security of the DPRK.

Failed attempts to send satellite into space

North Korea first attempted to send its Malligyong-1 spy satellite into space using its homegrown Chollima-1 rocket on May 31. The rocket failed to achieve the second stage of launch and fell into the sea due to an unreliable engine system and fuel.

Pyongyang’ second attempt to send its satellite into space on August 25 also ended in a failure. According to the state-run news agency KCNA, “The flights of the first and second stages of the rocket were normal, but the launch failed due to an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight.”

Space race in the Korean Peninsula

Along with the rising military tensions between the two rival countries of the Korean Peninsula, a new wave of the space race has started. Seoul and Pyongyang are making rapid progress trying to improve their space technologies and putting satellites into space.

Earlier this year, South Korea successfully launched its first homegrown space rocket carrying 8 commercial satellites. Nuri rocket, also called KSLV-II, took off from Naro Space Center on the southern coast of South Korea.

North Korea, on the other hand, is focused on using the space front to improve the country’s reconnaissance capabilities. Pyongyang’s missiles and rocket-building capabilities demonstrate that it can send a satellite into space, however, many experts have questioned whether the North Korean military has access to sophisticated reconnaissance equipment, especially high-resolution cameras for the spy satellite.