North Korean regime leader Kim Jong Un has inspected his country’s first spy satellite and approved a “future action plan” for its use, state media reported Wednesday.
Kim met with the Non-Standing Satellite Launch Preparatory Committee on Tuesday before observing the satellite, the official KCNA news agency reported.
Kim said on April 18 that the satellite’s construction had been completed and gave the green light for its launch.
A week earlier, Pyongyang launched what it called a new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile, a breakthrough in its weapons program.
On Tuesday “after learning in detail about the committee’s work, (Kim) inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1, which is ready for use after undergoing a final check and space environment test,” KCNA said.
key defense project
The North Korean leader subsequently “approved the future action plan of the preparatory committee,” the agency added.
The development of a military reconnaissance satellite is one of the key defense projects proposed by Kim in 2021.
North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power last year, undoing a possible denuclearization talks.
“Since North Korean reconnaissance satellites are a major factor in a possible preemptive nuclear strike, they present a significant threat to the South,” Yang Moon-jim, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP in April.
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