NIS warns of ICBM, satellite launches ahead of trilateral summit

National Intelligence Service Director Kim Kyou-hyun waits to brief lawmakers on the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee on Thursday at the legislature in Yeouido, western Seoul. [YONHAP]

South Korea’s spy agency warned lawmakers that North Korea is getting ready to raise the heat on the peninsula by firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and attempting to launch another reconnaissance satellite into orbit.

The findings by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) were reported to the media at a Thursday press briefing by People Power Party Rep. Yoo Sang-bum, who serves as the executive secretary of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee.

According to Yoo, the NIS told lawmakers during a closed committee session that it has “detected active movements of ICBM launch support vehicles in Saneum-dong, Pyongyang,” which suggest the North is preparing for a long-range missile launch just before the trilateral summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The spy agency also said that it identified other signs that the North could soon launch an ICBM, such as frequent shipments out of a factory where liquid-fuel propellant is manufactured, as well as “unusually” active vehicle movements near solid-fuel missile production facilities.

The NIS expects the North to soon conduct a joint drill across its various military branches, including the force responsible for launching missiles mounted with tactical nuclear weapons, Yoo said.

The spy agency also told lawmakers that it was likely that the North would try to launch a reconnaissance satellite again in the coming weeks.

According to the NIS, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made completing technical preparations for the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite a top priority for his regime in the second half of the year, Yoo said.

“If the flaws that led to the failure of the last military reconnaissance satellite are fixed, the second satellite launch attempt may be carried out in late August or early September to raise morale ahead of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the North Korean regime” on Sept. 9, Yoo said.

The NIS also told lawmakers that the North has been conducting intensive engine combustion tests to verify the reliability of the satellite launch vehicle since July and that South Korean reconnaissance assets have also spotted new installations of satellite antennas to track the launch rocket and receive data transmissions.

The spy agency said the North attributes the failure of its first reconnaissance satellite to engine defects, and that the tests are intended to correct those flaws.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]