Amid the brewing tensions in the Korean peninsula, reports are emerging that North Korea has notified Japan about its plans to launch a space rocket carrying a satellite. According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, the hermit nation notified that the launch will take place on Monday midnight of June 3.
The notice providing the eight-day window came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are scheduled to hold a rare trilateral meeting. The South Korean authorities noted that the evolving North Korean threats are likely to be a major topic of discussion between the three world leaders.
North Korea designates areas where debris will fall
In the notification to the Japanese Coast Guard, Pyongyang mentioned that the debris from the satellite launch will fall in three designated areas. The two are west of the Korean Peninsula and the other east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon, Yonhap reported.
Earlier this year, North Korea announced its plans to launch three more satellites in 2024 following the launch of its first military reconnaissance satellite in November last year.
The plan also comes amid growing international criticism which states that North Korea’s decision to launch their satellites and ballistic missiles goes against the UN Security Council resolution.
“North Korea’s purported military spy satellite launch is a provocative act that breaches the U.N. Security Council resolutions, and our military will implement measures that demonstrate our powerful capability and determination,” Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said in a regular press briefing.
North Korea’s dismay with South and the US
It is important to note that the latest notification on the matter came a day after North Korea’s defence ministry accused the United States and South Korea of flying spy planes and ships near its territory.
According to the North Korean news agency KCNA, the warning came on Sunday from the hermit nation’s Vice Defence minister Kim Gang Il. The defence official maintained that the US had flown at least 16 of its RC-135 and U-2S strategic reconnaissance planes and RQ-4B drone over the Korean peninsula.
Pyongyang eventually called this whole ordeal a “dangerous provocation”. “Even now, the US and South Korean puppet air forces are continuously mobilising various aircraft with little or no time gap throughout the day, carrying out aerial reconnaissance activities at a level comparable to war-time situations,” Kim said in a statement on Sunday, KCNA reported.
He insisted that their provocative activities seriously infringe on North Korea’s national sovereignty and the country’s security. “We will act immediately when the nation’s sovereignty and security interests are violated,” Kim added.
With inputs from agencies.
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