North Korea claims missile tests are prelude to spy satellite launch, not nuclear weapons

US has condemned latest ‘destabilising’ missile tests by Pyongyang

While a pair of recent North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile tests have drawn condemnation from a US concerned the authoritarian regime could soon resume nuclear tests, North Korean state media claims the tests are the prelude to launching spy satellites rather than warheads.

The North Korean missile tests on 26 February and 5 March were the first such tests since 2017 when North Korea tested missiles capable of reaching the continental US. The last North Korean nuclear weapons test was in September of 2017.

But the most recent missile tests showcased newer missile technology, according to reporting by Reuters, although the launches did not demonstrate the range of previous tests, the news service cited a senior Biden administration official as saying the tests were a major escalation.

But North Korean state media said the missile system is intended to launch a reconnaissance satellite as part of a five-year plan to monitor US and allied military actions in Asia, Reuters reports.

North Korea allegedly plans to launch the satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit, an orbit that would take the satellite nearly over Earth’s poles and allow it to view any given piece of ground at the same local time with each pass. Such orbits are common for both spy and weather satellites, where maintaining the same angle of illumination in photographs over time can aid in gathering data.

North Korea successfully launched what it claims is a weather satellite, Kwangmyongsong-4, in 2016, although it’s not clear if the satellite is functioning properly. US officials accused North Korea of using the satellite launch as cover for the test of a missile that could be used to carry nuclear warheads to distant targets.

The most recent tests have provoked the same concerns, with a senior Biden administration official telling reporters that the launches, “Needlessly raise tensions and risk destabilizing the security situation in the region.”