Not happy with their successful satellite launch, the North Koreans apparently decided to increase tensions further by firing a ballistic missile that failed:
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows the test firing of a new solid-fuel Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at an undisclosed location in North Korea, April 13. Yonhap
North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea, but the launch appears to have failed, the South Korean military said Thursday.
The North fired the missile from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 11:05 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It did not provide other details, adding that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are conducting an analysis into the launch.
The latest launch came after South Korea suspended part of the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement in response to the North’s latest launch of a military spy satellite.
The South Korean military has confirmed that the North Koreans did put a satellite into space, they just don’t know yet if it actually is transmitting anything:
This photo released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency shows the launch of a rocket carrying a spy satellite, Malligyong-1, at Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, Tuesday. Yonhap
North Korea’s military spy satellite appears to have entered into orbit, but more time would be needed to determine if it is operating properly, Seoul’s military said Wednesday.
The North launched the Malligyong-1 satellite from the country’s west coast late Tuesday in its third attempt this year, claiming it has successfully entered into orbit.
“After a comprehensive analysis of its flight track data and other signs, the satellite is assessed to have entered into orbit,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a text message sent to reporters.
“However, determining whether the satellite is working properly will take time as additional analysis is required under coordination between South Korea and the United States and relevant agencies.”
In response to the satellite launch the ROK announced that it is suspending part of the 2018 Inter-Korean Military Pact they have with North Korea:
Seoul on Wednesday partially suspended an inter-Korean military agreement designed to ease tensions and decided to resume surveillance operations along the border with North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite. The South Korean government said it was a “necessary measure” for self-defense.
At an extraordinary Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said North Korea’s latest provocation ― and violation of the agreement ― shows it has no intention to comply with it.
“A partial suspension of the agreement is a necessary measure for national security and the minimum action for self-defense,” he said after endorsing the proposal. It was subsequently approved in less than an hour by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is on a state visit to Britain.
It looks like the Russian assistance has paid off with the North Koreans apparently successfully placing a satellite into orbit:
North Korea said Wednesday it has successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit and will launch several more satellites “in a short span of time” to step up its surveillance capability on South Korea.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that the North launched a reconnaissance satellite called Malligyong-1 on a Chollima-1 rocket from a launch site in Tongchang-ri on the country’s west coast at 10:42 p.m. Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observed the launch at the site and congratulated officials, scientists and technicians associated with the launch preparations, according to KCNA.
“The carrier rocket ‘Chollima-1’ flew normally along the preset flight track and accurately put the reconnaissance satellite ‘Malligyong-1’ on its orbit at 22:54:13, 705s after the launch,” KCNA said in an English-language report.
You can read more at the link, but according to the Joong Ang Ilbo the rocket did fly on the typical southern trajectory that North Korea has used in the past for rocket launches. A J-Alert was issued in Japan’s Okinawan islands, but was lifted after the rocket passed over the islands.
Bloomberg News takes a crack at explaining why Kim Jong-un’s daughter has been used to heavily in state propaganda over the past year:
The role of Kim’s daughter in state propaganda appears to be showing the public there is another generation waiting to run the family dynasty forged in the Cold War and it will rely on nuclear weapons for its survival. She humanizes Kim as a father, with the possible intent of conveying a message to North Korean parents that supporting an arms program means protecting their children from a U.S. invasion and a loss of the “unique” socialist state forged by the Kim family.
“The preservation of the Kim family rule is, of course, inextricably tied to the country’s weapons program,” said Soo Kim, a former Korea analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency, who now works at U.S.-based management consulting firm LMI.
She added while the intent may be to soften the image of Kim Jong Un, that could be a hard sell. “The North Korean people are still starving and living under Draconian repression – missiles or not. And unless Kim takes dramatic steps to improve the living conditions of his people and give them true freedom, their perceptions of Kim are unlikely to change fundamentally.”
But that has not stopped North Korea from using the daughter for political purposes. She has appeared 16 times in public over the past year — with 13 of the events related to the military, two for sports and one for the economy, according to information from the South Korean government.
Since the North Koreans will probably try and launch their rocket on a southern trajectory is will likely pass over Japan’s southern Ryuku Islands thus the reason for the notification:
North Korea has notified Japan of a plan to launch a space rocket between Wednesday and Dec. 1, Reuters reported Monday, as the recalcitrant regime is preparing for what would be its third attempt to put a military spy satellite into orbit.
The North apprised Japan’s Coast Guard of the planned launch in the direction of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, according to Reuters.
South Korea has said Pyongyang may go ahead with the launch as early as “this week or so,” while urging the regime to “immediately” stop the launch preparations.
I guess we will see if the third time is the charm for the North Koreans to get rocket to work, this time with Russian assistance:
North Korea may launch its military spy satellite as early as “within a week or so,” South Korea’s defense minister said Sunday, citing intelligence of the North’s preparations.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said the launch could take place before South Korea launches its first indigenous reconnaissance satellite on Falcon 9, U.S. aerospace company SpaceX’s two-stage rocket, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Nov. 30.
“South Korea and the United States are monitoring North Korea’s movements. North Korea’s preparations are under way for a launch to take place within a week or so,” Shin said in an interview aired on public broadcaster KBS earlier in the day.
If the North Koreans cannot get their rocket to work after receiving assistance from the Russians they might as well give up trying:
This file photo, taken Oct. 18, 2023, shows Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaking in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and Yonhap News TV. (Yonhap)
North Korea appears to have been receiving technical assistance from Russia over the launch of a military spy satellite, and there is a “very high” chance for the North to press ahead with it once the country completes fixing technical glitches, South Korea’s unification minister said Monday.
Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho made the remark during a meeting with a group of reporters amid speculation that North Korea is in the final stage of its preparations to make a third attempt to put a military spy satellite into orbit after its failed attempts in May and August.
“It is hard to predict when North Korea will make the third attempt for the launch. But there seem to be signs of the North receiving technical assistance from Russia,” Kim said in a meeting marking his 100th day in office.
This is one of the few industries that North Korea actually excels at so it makes sense they would want to celebrate it:
North Korea has designated a “missile industry day” to mark a test-firing of its Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in 2022, the North’s state media reported Sunday.
North Korea test-fired the ICBM on Nov. 18, 2022, with leader Kim Jong-un declaring that the missile reaffirmed his regime’s acquisition of a powerful and reliable capability to counter any nuclear threats.
Nov. 18 was designated as the “missile industry day” because it displayed “the might of a world-class nuclear power and the strongest ICBM possessor was demonstrated to the whole world,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
