North Korea’s spy satellite launch creates friction with South Korea and the UN

On Tuesday, last week, North Korea launched a rocket believed to be carrying a surveillance satellite. According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the country’s leader Kim Jong Un met up with the team of space scientists and technicians responsible for the mission to congratulate them.

He labeled the event a major milestone noting that it had “propelled the country into a new era of space power” According to KCNA, Kim said that, “the possession of reconnaissance satellite is a full-fledged exercise of the right to self-defence.”

The launch is on pace with the country’s five-year military plan in which Kim plans to have a functioning spy satellite. This will put North Korea at a vantage point where they can monitor the movement of enemy troops as well as track weapons on the Korean Peninsula.

A nation-state media house claims that a few hours after launch, the North Korean military had already captured and was reviewing pictures from US military bases in Guam.

As you would expect, the move has been met with strong opposition from multiple countries including South Korea, the US, and Japan.

South Korea is convinced Kim Jong Un is working with the Russians especially since the launch comes shortly after Kim met with Putin.

Tensions have already begun rising between the two nations with South Korea partially suspending a 5-year military accord it had with North Korea.

And while South Korea confirmed that the satellite launch was successful, it said that it’s still early to say if the satellite works as claimed by their neighbors.

The satellite launch is the third attempt by North Korea after two failed attempts in May and August.