North Korea Preparing To Launch Satellite
Local Editor
North Korea is preparing to launch a satellite, a Seoul newspaper reported on Tuesday, as outside observers considered that the North Korean regime's space program is a fig leaf for weapons tests.
Pyongyang is under multiple UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests and is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology including satellites.
"Through various channels, we've recently learned that the North has completed a new satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-5", the Joongang Ilbo daily reported, quoting a South Korean government source.
"Their plan is to put a satellite equipped with cameras and telecommunication devices into orbit", he said.
Pyongyang launched their Kwangmyongsong-4 satellite in February 2016, which most in the international community viewed as a disguised ballistic missile test.
A spokesman for the South Korean military Joint Chiefs of Staff said there was "nothing out of ordinary at this moment" but added that Seoul was watching out for any provocative acts "including the test of a long-range missile disguised as a satellite launch".
The report came as the North's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reasserted the regime's right to launch satellites and develop its space technology.
At a UN General Assembly committee meeting in October, North Korea's deputy UN ambassador Kim In-Ryong said his country has a 2016-2020 plan to develop "practical satellites that can contribute to the economic development and improvement of the people's living".
He stressed North Korea's right to produce and launch satellites "will not be changed just because the US denies it".
North Korea is believed to have successfully put a satellite into orbit in December 2012 after years of failures dating back to 1998 when it launched a pilot satellite and named it Kwangmyongsong-1.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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