N.Korea's military reconnaissance satellite launch imminent

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un broke a month of stealth to visit the site of preparations for the launch of the first military reconnaissance satellite. 

At this meeting, Kim approved the "future action plan." It is estimated that the satellite is planned to be launched by mounting it on a launch vehicle. There are observations that North Korea's launch of a military reconnaissance satellite is imminent.

According to the North Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, Kim Jong-un gave field guidance to the "Emergency Satellite Launch Preparation Committee" project the previous day and approved the committee's future action plan.

Kim, along with his daughter Joo-ae, inspected the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1, which was ready to be mounted after assembly inspections and space environment tests.

The North Korean Central News Agency reported that the project to launch the first military reconnaissance satellite is in the solidarity stage, which means the end.

“As the anti-DPRK confrontation maneuvers by the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet scoundrels become more aggressive, our sovereignty and self-defense right to defend the country will be more confidently and aggressively exercised,” Kim Jong-un said, 

Kim Jong-un's public activity is about a month after he visited the National Space Development Agency last month and declared "complete production" of a military reconnaissance satellite.

It is also at the point of time, three days before the G7 summit to be held in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19 to 21.

“North Korea will work according to its own schedule because the success of this reconnaissance satellite launch is linked to whether the satellite will continue to be launched in the future and Kim Jong-un's achievements in the defense field, and it will have a great impact on the movements of the international community, such as the G7 summit,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies.

“If a tough stance toward North Korea is announced at the G7 summit, the launch date may be advanced,” he predicted.

The military reconnaissance satellite is one of the five major defense tasks that North Korea confirmed at the 8th Party Congress in January 2021. Many analysts say that if North Korea succeeds in launching it, it will significantly improve its nuclear weapons capabilities.

“The purpose of the launch is to overcome North Korea’s inferior reconnaissance capabilities compared to the overwhelming reconnaissance capabilities of South Korea and the US,” said Hong Min, director of the North Korea Research Office at the Institute for National Unification. 

Write to Jin-Gyu Maeng at maeng@hankyung.com