North Korea claims mystery missile was part of spy satellite equipment test: Report

North Korea claimed that the unrecognised missile, launched on Sunday, was part of a test developing spy satellite equipment. The aerospace agency of the country conducted the tests to "confirm the characteristics and working accuracy" of the high-definition photographing system, North Korea state-owned media, KCNA, reported. The media outlet also attached two oblique images taken by the alleged satellite equipment during its test launch on Sunday.

“The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) National Aerospace Development Administration and the Academy of Defence Science conducted an important test on Sunday under the plan of developing a reconnaissance satellite,” KCNA reported.

The test launch also helped the aerospace scientists working on the satellite to “confirm the characteristics and working accuracy of (a) high definition photographing system, data transmission system." In addition, the experts also noted attitude control devices by conducting vertical and oblique photographing of a specific area on Earth with cameras to be loaded on the reconnaissance satellite, the North Korean media added. The agency also shared images of the Korean Peninsula as seen from above the planet.

(Image of the Korean Peninsula taken from space by the spy satellite launch by North Korea on Sunday. Image: KCNA)

As per reports, the alleged satellite reached a maximum altitude of 620 km, flying about 300km. As per The Associated Press, it could be among an array of the sophisticated weapons systems that North Korean authoritarian leader Kim Jong-un, last year, promised to develop as a part of its military modernisation. The missile-looking object landed just outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as per reports by the South Korean military. However, technical details provided by North Korea have not been independently confirmed.

Talking about space missions, North Korea successfully launched its first satellite in the orbit in 2012 and 2016, after multiple failures. KCNA stated the current spy satellite equipment to be a "significant" development for its National Aerospace Development Administration and Academy of Defence Science.

Initially suspected to be a ballistic missile by South Korea, was said to be Pyongyang's eighth such test. The US Indo-Pacific command slammed North Korea for the launch, alongside Japan, France and Britain. The launch came on the sidelines of the mounting military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

North Korea stands in support of Russia

The said launch on Sunday came after an article by a Pyongyang government analyst said that North Korea sided in favour of Russia in the ongoing war between Moscow and Ukraine. The article also articulately condemned the US for allegedly fabricating "lies" in the wake of war.

"The basic cause of the Ukraine incident lies in the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the United States, which has ignored Russia's legitimate calls for security guarantees and only sought a global hegemony and military dominance while clinging to its sanctions campaigns," Ri Ji Song, a researcher at a North Korean state-run institute on international politics, said in a post published on the website of the Foreign Ministry.

The statement came as Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 unleashed "unprovoked and unjustified" military operations in Ukraine, causing the death of hundreds and intense infrastructural damages. To note, the former Soviet Union before its disintegration was the biggest supplier of aid to North Korea in the 1990s. Since the bilateral talks between former US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un failed, Putin has been trying to restore ties with Pyongyang for stronger deterrence against Washington.

(Image: AP/Unsplash/Representative)