Tokyo, Aug 22: North Korea told Japan on Tuesday it plans to launch a satellite in the coming days, possibly a second try to put a military spy satellite into orbit three months after its first effort failed, Japanese officials said.
In late May, a North Korean rocket carrying a spy satellite plunged into the sea soon after liftoff, posing a setback to leader Kim Jong Un’s push to establish a space-based surveillance system to better monitor the US and South Korea.
North Korea had vowed to make a second attempt after studying what went wrong with the first launch.
Japan’s coast guard said North Korean authorities notified it about a plan to launch a satellite from August 24 and the end of August 30.
Coast guard spokesperson Hiromune Kikuchi said that the notice didn’t specify what type of satellite North Korea intends to launch but that he believes it possibly refers to one similar to the spy satellite in the May launch.
The North Korean notice mentioned three maritime zones that could be affected by its launch – off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast, in the East China Sea and east of the Philippine island of Luzon. Japan issued safety warnings for vessels passing through the three areas, according to the website of the Japanese coast guard.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed officials to do their utmost to gather and analyse any information about the launch and to prepare for any emergencies, according to his office. He also called for cooperation with the US, South Korea and other concerned countries to demand North Korea not conduct the launch.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry called the North’s planned satellite launch “an illegal provocation” because it would violate UN Security Council resolutions that ban the country from committing any launch involving ballistic activities.
A ministry statement said that South Korea will sternly deal with the North’s launch in close coordination with the US and Japan.
The launch plan comes during annual US-South Korean military drills that began Monday. North Korea views the regular US-South Korean military exercises as a rehearsal for invading it and is expected to extend its provocative run of missile tests in reaction to the exercises.
The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield drills are computer-simulated command post training. During this year’s training period, the US and South Korean militaries also plan more than 30 field training exercises.
North Korea’s state media warned on Tuesday that its rivals’ drills are deepening the danger of a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.
“If the agreements fabricated at the Camp David Resort are additionally put into practice in the war drill …, the possibility of outbreak of a thermonuclear war on the Korean Peninsula will become more realistic,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.
It said the current, prevailing situation is compelling North Korea to take “offensive, overwhelming” steps, but didn’t elaborate. (AP)
