North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated a “new era of space power” with scientists and his family after putting a spy satellite into orbit, state media said Friday. After two failures in May and August, a rocket took off from North Korea on Tuesday and placed the “Malligyong-1” military observation satellite into orbit, according to North Korean media. South Korea confirmed Thursday that the launch into orbit was successful. The launch is “a full exercise of the right to self-defense,” Kim Jong Un said during a visit to the national space agency, according to the official Korean news agency in Pyongyang.
The spy satellite will help protect the North from “dangerous and aggressive movements of hostile forces” and usher in “a new era of space power” in the country, he said. Images released by Pyongyang show the North Korean number one praising the scientists and collaborators of the space agency, recently renamed the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA in English), accompanied by his daughter, Ju Ae.
Seoul’s retaliatory measures
Wearing a black leather coat, a smiling Kim Jong Un is shown greeting uniformed employees, who all appear to enthusiastically applaud the leader and his daughter. State media published images of Kim Jong Un at a reception with NATA employees, senior military and political officials, as well as his daughter and his wife, Ri Sol Ju. The leader’s family and other attendees at the reception wear T-shirts reading “NATA” in English in these images.
All participants “clapped enthusiastically and expressed their thanks” to Kim Jong Un, KCNA said. Following the launch, Seoul on Wednesday partially suspended a 2018 military agreement with North Korea to prevent armed incidents along the inter-Korean border and immediately deployed “surveillance and reconnaissance assets” to that border.
North Korea’s Defense Ministry called Seoul’s actions “reckless” and announced it was also suspending the deal in its entirety. Experts say putting a working spy satellite into orbit would improve Pyongyang’s intelligence capabilities and provide crucial data in the event of a military conflict.