North says it will launch more spy satellites this year

In this footage broadcast by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central Television, a rocket carrying North Korea's first spy satellite, Malligyong-1, is launched from the Sohae satellite launching station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, on Nov. 21, 2023. [YONHAP]

A North Korean space agency official reiterated the regime's plan to launch more spy satellites into orbit this year using "independent technology," state media reported on Monday.

At a press conference the previous day marking the 10th anniversary of the founding of the North’s National Aerospace Technology Administration, Deputy Director-General Park Kyong-su said the “successful launch of the reconnaissance satellite ‘Malligyong-1’ last year led to great progress in strengthening our defense capabilities” and that the regime “expects to launch several more reconnaissance satellites this year,” according to the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s largest newspaper and mouthpiece of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Park said the North will continue to accelerate “independent space technology development,” adding that the regime views its space industry as a “key vehicle to secure its position as a global economic, scientific and technological powerhouse.”

In his comments, Park appeared to push back at accusations from South Korea and the United States that the North owed the success of its last satellite launch in November to Russian technological assistance.

“We solved a number of technical problems by doing things our own way,” he said, adding that technologies developed in service of the regime’s space program were also applied to state-run defense and economic projects.

South Korean and U.S. officials believe that Russia likely provided technology that helped the North launch its first military spy satellite into orbit in return for weapons to use against Ukraine. The North’s previous satellite launches in May and August last year ended in failure.

In response to Park’s comments, South Korea Unification Ministry spokesman Koo Byung-sam said that the North’s use of ballistic missile technology to launch satellites “is a clear violation of the United Nations' Security Council resolutions, regardless of the satellite’s claimed purpose.”

While Park did not mention the number of satellites that the North plans to launch this year, his comments echoed leader Kim Jong-un’s declaration at a plenary session of the Workers' Party Central Committee in December that the regime should fire three more spy satellites into orbit in 2024.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials who are tracking developments in the North’s missile and space program believe that the regime recently conducted combustion tests for rocket stage propellants at the Sohae satellite launching station in Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province.

Multistage rockets use two or more stages, each with its own engine and propellant. These stages are jettisoned when they run out of fuel in order to decrease the mass of the remaining missile, which enables the thrust of the remaining stages to more easily accelerate the rocket to its intended speed and height.

South Korean military sources previously said that they expected the North to launch its second spy satellite toward the end of last month or early this month.

The North could time the launch to coincide with the upcoming South Korean general election on April 10 or the birthday of regime founder and late leader Kim Il Sung on April 15, which Pyongyang celebrates annually as the Day of the Sun.

However, experts have cautioned that a potential second satellite launch will hinge mostly on the North’s technical readiness and not symbolic timing.

“North Korea is aware of the South’s political calendar, but technical readiness is likely to be the most important deciding factor in its satellite launches,” said Chung Dae-jin, a professor at Halla University.

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