North Korea tells Japan fresh spy satellite launch coming in days, its third attempt this year

Successfully putting a spy satellite into orbit would improve North Korea’s intelligence-gathering capabilities and provide crucial data in a conflict

Pyongyang notified Japan on Tuesday that it would carry out the launch attempt – the first since Russia had offered to help – as early as Wednesday

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A still from footage released by the North Korean government shows what it says was May’s attempt at launching a satellite into orbit. Photo: Korean Central News Agency via Reuters

Published: 10:31am, 21 Nov 2023Updated: 10:31am, 21 Nov 2023

North Korea has issued formal notice of a satellite launch as early as Wednesday, Japan said, defying warnings from South Korea and multiple UN resolutions banning Pyongyang from using ballistic missile technology.

The launch would be the third attempt by North Korea this year after two earlier failures to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit, most recently in August.

The Japanese coastguard posted a notification on its website on Tuesday of a launch window between Wednesday and December 1. South Korea’s state maritime safety agency issued a warning to vessels of the planned launch for the same areas as previous launches – in the direction of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

A man walks past a television at a railway station in Seoul broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a space rocket in August. Photo: Reuters

The notice prompted immediate condemnation from Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who said his country’s defence systems, including the Aegis destroyers and PAC-3 air defence missiles, stood ready for any “unexpected situation” that arose.

“Even if the purpose is to launch a satellite, using ballistic missile technology is a violation of a series of United Nations Security Council resolutions,” he told reporters. “It is also a matter that greatly affects national security.”

Kishida added that Japan was coordinating its response with South Korea and the United States, its partners in a trilateral defence arrangement.

Earlier this month, Seoul’s spy agency said that Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for another effort to put a military eye in the sky. South Korea’s defence ministry said it was watching the North’s planned launch. Previous launches came in the early hours of the first day of the window, the ministry said, and it was possible the third attempt would be successful.