State-run media said on Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered preparations for launching the nation’s first military surveillance satellite as scheduled after declaring Pyongyang finished its construction.
Kim stated he hopes to launch the satellite by the end of April during a site inspection on Tuesday at the National Aerospace Development Administration, North Korea’s space development agency.
According to Korean Central News Agency, “He set forth the militant task to establish a temporary satellite-launching preparatory committee to ensure that the military reconnaissance satellite No. 1 completed as of April will be launched at the scheduled date.”
Kim also directed the agency to expedite the launch’s last-minute preparations and firmly develop the satellite intelligence-gathering capability by launching multiple reconnaissance satellites on various orbits successively in the future.
The North Korean leader once more decried joint US-South Korean military exercises, claiming that Washington transforms Seoul into an advanced base for “aggression and an arsenal for war.”
