North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected photographs taken by the country’s new spy satellite of “major target regions,” including the South Korean capital Seoul and cities hosting US military bases, state media said on Saturday.
Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, but South Korean defense officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified.
Kim examined photographs of Seoul and other cities in Mokpo, Kunsan, Pyeongtaek and Osan, where US and South Korean military bases are located.
The photographs were taken as the satellite passed over the peninsula on Friday morning, state news agency KCNA said.
Kim examined the photographs, as well as images of some areas inside North Korea, during a visit Friday to the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) control center in Pyongyang.
The Pyongyang General Control Center of the Korean National Directorate of Aerospace Technology, a day after the launch of a rocket carrying the ‘Malligyong-1’ reconnaissance satellite, in Pyongyang on November 22, 2023.KCNA VIA KNS/ AFP via Getty Images
On Saturday, Kim once again visited the control center to examine more photographs taken in the morning of different target regions in South Korea: Jinhae, Busan, Ulsan, Pohang, Daegu and Gangneung.
A photograph showed the American aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, which arrived at a port in the South Korean city of Busan on Tuesday, according to KCNA.
During the visit, Kim also inspected photographs of the US Naval Station Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base taken by the satellite as it passed over Hawaii early Saturday.
Kim Jong Un (second from right) visits the General Control Center of the Korean National Directorate of Aerospace Technology in Pyongyang on November 22, 2023, a day after the launch of a rocket carrying the ‘Malligyong-reconnaissance satellite’. 1′.KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Images Kim Jong Un (center) and his daughter (second front left) posing with scientists who contributed to the launch of a reconnaissance satellite, at the National Directorate of Aerospace Technology in Pyongyang on November 23, 2023.KCNA VIA KNS/ AFP via Getty Images
In a separate commentary published by KCNA on Saturday, North Korea criticized the United States for providing advanced weapons to its “puppets,” saying even a small spark on the Korean Peninsula would result in a global nuclear war.
“The United States had better reflect on the catastrophic consequences of offering weapons to puppet forces,” he said.
Senior diplomats from Japan, South Korea and the United States spoke Friday and “strongly condemned the (Nov. 21) launch for its destabilizing effect on the region,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.
Earlier this week, KCNA said Kim viewed images taken over the US Pacific territory of Guam of US military facilities.
On Thursday, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said North Korea had “exaggerated” by saying Kim had already seen images from Guam.
“Even if it enters normal orbit, it takes considerable time to carry out normal reconnaissance,” Yonhap quoted at the time.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn