Seoul, South Korea. North Korea has told Japan it plans to launch a satellite early next week, an apparent effort to launch its second military spy satellite into orbit.
The launch notification came as the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China met in Seoul for their first trilateral meeting on Monday.
Japan’s coast guard said North Korea notified it of its plan to launch a “satellite rocket,” with safety warnings in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China and east of the Philippine island of Luzon starting on Monday and until midnight on June 3.
North Korea provides Japan with its launch information because the Japanese coast guard coordinates and distributes maritime security information in East Asia.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed officials to cooperate with the United States, South Korea and other countries to strongly request North Korea not to go ahead with the launch and to take all necessary measures in case of any contingency, his office said.
The launch plan likely refers to North Korea’s push to launch its second military spy satellite into space. South Korea’s military said Friday it detected signs that North Korea was engaging in activities believed to be preparations to launch a spy satellite at its main Tongchangri launch facility in the northwest.
Last November, North Korea launched its first military reconnaissance satellite into orbit as part of its efforts to build a space surveillance network to counter U.S.-led military threats. North Korea has said it needs spy satellites to better monitor the movements of the United States and South Korea and improve the precision strike capability of its nuclear-capable missiles.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later said at a year-end meeting of the ruling party that the country would launch three additional military spy satellites in 2024.
The UN prohibits North Korea from launching satellites, considering them as cover to test its long-range missile technology. North Korea has steadfastly maintained that it has the right to launch satellites and test missiles.
The North Korean satellite launch in November deepened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and both Koreas took steps to violate their 2018 agreement to reduce military tensions.
In recent years, North Korea has been engaged in a provocative series of missile tests to modernize and expand its weapons arsenals, prompting the United States, South Korea and Japan to strengthen their security partnership in response. Experts say North Korea likely believes a larger arsenal of weapons would increase its influence in future diplomacy with the United States.
North Korea was not among the issues on the official agendas of Monday’s trilateral meeting between Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
But during a bilateral meeting with Li on Sunday, Yoon called on China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, to help promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, while discussing North Korea’s nuclear program and its deepening military ties with Russia, according to Yoon’s office.
South Korea, Japan and the United States have long urged China (North Korea’s main ally and economic conduit) to use its influence to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions. But China is suspected of avoiding fully applying UN sanctions on North Korea and sending clandestine aid shipments to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat.
On Sunday, North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il threatened to take unspecified “offensive measures” in response to what he described as South Korean navy and coast guard ships violating the disputed maritime border. between the rivals, which has been the scene of several bloody maritime skirmishes in recent years.
He also vowed to retaliate against South Korean activists who send anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border.
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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
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