North Korea last week successfully launched its first spy satellite designed to monitor US and South Korean military activities. Since then, North Korean state media has reported that the satellite has taken pictures of cities and military bases in South Korea, Guam and even the Italian capital Rome.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with members of the satellite launch preparatory committee on November 24, 2023. Photo: KCNA
Meanwhile, South Korea said on Tuesday that the launch of its first reconnaissance satellite on a US Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for November 30 would be delayed due to weather, saying it could not verify North Korea's satellite capabilities.
In Washington, the Pentagon said the North Korean satellite had entered orbit but would not comment on Pyongyang’s claim of the images. “There are a lot of images of the Pentagon and the White House online,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters.
There is no reason to doubt that North Korean satellites can see those locations, since even a medium-resolution camera can provide that capability, said Dave Schmerler, a satellite imagery expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with senior officials of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) during a banquet to celebrate the satellite launch. Photo: KCNA
But for the satellites to have a resolution useful for a conflict, North Korea would need to launch many more satellites to allow them to pass over key locations more frequently, a goal the North Korean space agency says it is pursuing, Schmerler said. “It’s a huge leap for them to go from zero to something,” he said.
North Korea previously released full-color images of downtown Seoul after its December 2022 rocket launch, a test of its satellite control, photography, and data transmission capabilities for its closest military reconnaissance satellite. But Tuesday’s images were of what KCNA described as “the main target areas.”
Kim Jong Un also inspected satellite images of Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, a US territory in the Western Pacific , as well as a US shipyard and air base in Norfolk and Newport, where four nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and a British aircraft carrier were spotted, according to KCNA.
Hoang Hai (according to KCNA, Reuters)
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