North Korea says plans to launch satellite by June 4: Japanese media

Seoul, South Korea:

North Korea has notified Japan of plans to launch a satellite by June 4, Japanese media reported on Monday citing the coast guard, after Seoul said Pyongyang was preparing to put another military spy satellite into orbit.

The Japanese Coast Guard said the eight-day launch window began at midnight Sunday through Monday, with North Korea’s warning designating three maritime danger zones near the Korean peninsula and the Philippine island of Luzon, where debris from the rocket carrying the satellite could fall, according to the Kyodo News Agency.

Officials from the United States, Japan and South Korea agreed in a phone call to urge Kim Jong Un’s regime to suspend the plan, as any launch using ballistic missile technology would violate UN resolutions, Kyodo reported.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched its first reconnaissance satellite last November in a move that drew international condemnation, with the United States calling it a “blatant violation” of UN sanctions.

Experts say spy satellites could improve Pyongyang’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, especially about fierce rival South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict.

Seoul said on Friday that South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials were “closely monitoring and tracking” alleged preparations for the launch of another military reconnaissance satellite.

The alleged preparations were detected in North Korea’s Tongchang-ri county, Seoul said, home to the isolated country’s Sohae Satellite Launch Field. It was also where the North carried out three satellite launches last year, only the last of which was successful.

Seoul said the North received technical help from Russia to launch the satellite, in exchange for sending weapons to Moscow for use in the war in Ukraine.

The North’s warning comes as top leaders from Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo meet in South Korea on Monday for their first summit in nearly five years, although divergent political stances mean North Korea should not be on the table.

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