Tensions on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea Successfully Launches Spy Satellite

People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with a picture of North Korea's latest satellite-carrying rocket launch, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea on Nov. 22, 2023. (Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)

On Nov. 21, North Korea launched its first spy satellite into orbit, leading to condemnation from the United States, Japan, and South Korea. This marks the third time this year that the regime attempted to launch a spy satellite. The previous two launches were both unsuccessful.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un celebrated a “new era of space power.” In response, South Korea suspended the military accord signed with North Korea in 2018 and resumed frontline aerial surveillance of North Korea.

According to the North Korean state media, the regime’s space agency announced that from Dec. 1, its Malligyong-1 satellite would officially begin its reconnaissance mission, following a period of fine-tuning.

South Korea’s Ends Military Accord

In the early morning of Nov. 22, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol convened an emergency national security meeting to discuss potential countermeasures. South Korea announced that it would immediately leave the 2018 inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) and resume aerial surveillance of North Korea by South Korean aircrafts near the border. In addition, South Korean plans to launch its own military spy satellite for the first time on Nov. 30.

North Korea responded on the next day that it would abandon the agreement altogether. The regime’s Central Military Commission announced, “We will immediately restore all military measures that have been halted. The so-called ‘Republic of Korea’ will be held wholly accountable in case an inretrievable clash breaks out between the north and the south.”

South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik said in the National Assembly on Nov. 23, “If North Korea stages provocations under the pretext of the suspension, we will respond immediately, strongly, and until the end.”

The South Korea’s military said that analysis results show that the North Korean satellite has entered orbit, but whether the satellite is operational has yet to be confirmed. South Korea’s intelligence agency alleged that the successful launch of the spy satellite was supported by Russia.

Japan’s Response 

North Korea launched the satellite more than one hour earlier than the time it was announced to the international community. This caused confusion in South Korea and Japan, which lead to condemnation that this was a “surprise attack.”

The unexpected rocket carrying the satellite flew over Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. The Japanese government issued a warning to local residents on the evening of the launch, causing panic in the streets of Naha in the Okinawa Prefecture. Many local residents and tourists accused North Korea of “harassment” and “intimidation.”

An hour after the satellite launch, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida received a report on the situation and convened an emergency national security meeting. He told the media that North Korea’s use of ballistic missile technology for the rocket launch was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution and poses a serious security threat to Japan.

US and International Condemnation 

Senior officials of the United States, Japan, and South Korea immediately convened a teleconference regarding North Korea’s aggression. The three countries jointly condemned the launch and stated that North Korea is in violation of the UNSC resolution, which significantly undermines regional security.

On Nov. 22, the G7 foreign ministers issued a joint statement to condemn North Korea in the strongest terms for using ballistic missile technology to launch military spy satellites and called on North Korea to enter into dialogue with the United States, Japan, and South Korea. The G7 countries consist of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a statement on Nov. 21 condemning North Korea’s breach of UNSC resolutions and called for negotiations to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Limited Threat at Present

Regarding North Korea’s spy satellite, military analyst Xia Luoshan spoke to The Epoch Times that North Korea’s successful launch of any intelligence-gathering satellite poses a threat to South Korea and Japan because any single satellite may be capable of monitoring an area that is large enough to cover the entirety of South Korea and Japan. The level of the threat is dependent on the capabilities of the satellite and whether the satellite can be used to guide ground-based weapon systems.

Mr. Xia pointed out that the images from North Korea’s satellites appear to be so crude that they may not even be as good as those commercial satellites in the West, and it is difficult to say whether they have any surveillance and intelligence-gathering capabilities. Even if it did possess such capabilities, it still would need to form a data chain with its weapons systems to aim at the specific targets. In this sense, the North Korean satellite, even if it is launched successfully, is likely to pose only very limited military threat to South Korea and Japan at this point in time. However, the danger lies in the fact that North Korea’s satellite development trend in the future may advance with Russia’s help.