North Korea boasts of satellite capability, says it will launch more soon

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is determined to launch more spy satellites in the near future to collect information on the military activities of its enemies, a commentary carried by state news agency KCNA said on Saturday.

The satellites will be modeled after the Malligyong-1 satellite that Pyongyang launched in November, which governments in the United States, South Korea and Japan said violated U.N. Security Council resolutions.

"If necessary, they will perfectly execute the job of guiding and leading us towards a super strong strike," the anonymous commentary said while defending space development as its right to defend itself.

The national security advisers of the U.S., South Korea and Japan are set to hold a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Saturday to discuss North Korea and other global issues.

In a separate article on KCNA, Ro Ju Hyon, who the agency described as an international affairs analyst, criticized South Korea for "reckless military aid to Ukraine."

It cited a Washington Post article from earlier this week which reported that South Korea's indirect provision of 155mm shells made it a "larger supplier of artillery ammunition for Ukraine than all European nations combined."

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as a rocket carrying a spy satellite Malligyong-1 is launched, as North Korean government claims, in a location given as North Gyeongsang Province, North Korea in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on November 21, 2023/ File Photo© Thomson Reuters

"This is the top-class pro-U.S. act to put even the West, steeped in anti-Russia policy, into the shade," Ro said.

North Korea has been criticized over its ties with Russia by South Korea, Japan and the U.S., who say Pyongyang is providing arms support to Moscow in return for help advancing its military capabilities.

Last month, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. had information that indicated North Korea was covertly supplying Russia with a "significant" number of artillery shells for its war in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien) Story by Reuters