North Korea informed Japan on Monday that it wants to launch a satellite, perhaps its first military surveillance satellite. Japan’s coast guard stated that the launch window was May 31–June 11 and might affect seas in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and east of Luzon Island. North Korea has also tested a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in recent months. Japan’s prime minister’s office urged North Korea not to launch and promised to work with allies. The prime minister’s office tweeted that it will work with “relevant countries, such as the US and South Korea” to stop North Korea from launching.
North Korea would need UNSC-prohibited long-range missile capability to launch a satellite. It has launched Earth monitoring satellites as missile tests. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno called the launch a “threat to the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community” and a violation of UN resolutions. If the satellite or debris entered Japan, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada ordered the Self Defense Force to shoot it down. The government promised to gather and study launch data. “Pyongyang presumably notified Tokyo of the impending launch because the rocket may fly over Japanese territory, and the Kim regime wants to claim it is conducting a legitimate space program,” Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, told reporter in an email. “But the notification does not appear to meet international standards, and any North Korean satellite launch is illegal under UN Security Council resolutions banning ballistic missile tests.”
April saw North Korea unveil its first spy satellite. Kim Jong Un approved a “future action plan” at a military satellite site earlier this month. This launch would utilize UNSC-banned long-range missile technology. Analysts say the spy satellite is part of nuclear-armed North Korea’s aspirations to upgrade surveillance technologies, including drones, and hit targets in battle. North Korean media has lambasted South Korea, the US, and Japan for contemplating “sinister measures” to deepen military cooperation by sharing real-time missile launch data.
