SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 9: People watch a television program of the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s army released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Seoul, South Korea.
Jung Sung Joon | Getty Images News | Getty Images
North Korea announced plans to launch its first military spy satellite – boosting some defense stocks in South Korea and Japan.
North Korean military official Ri Pyong Chol said in a statement on Monday that Pyongyang plans to launch a satellite aimed at tracking “dangerous” U.S. actions, pointing to its recent joint military exercises with South Korea.
The incident “sufficiently proves that the enemy is preparing for an act of military aggression against North Korea,” North Korea claimed, referring to its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Ri said the satellite, scheduled for launch in June, will “integrally track, monitor, identify, control and respond in real time to dangerous military actions by the United States and its vassal forces that blatantly expose their reckless aggressive ambitions””
“Under the current situation brought about by the reckless military actions of the US and South Korea, we gradually feel the need to expand reconnaissance and information means, improve various defensive and offensive weapons, and have a timetable for implementing their development plans,” he said. .
Defense stocks rise
Shares of South Korean defense companies Firstec and Victek rose 3.8 percent and 3.3 percent, respectively, on Tuesday afternoon, after a market holiday on Monday. South Korea’s aerospace industry also edged up 0.6 percent.
Japanese defense company Hosoya Pyro-Engineering rose 1.11 percent, while Mitsubishi Electric Co edged up 0.16 percent.
ICBM test ahead of schedule?
Stephen Nagy, a professor at the International Christian University, said the launch could have been an intercontinental ballistic missile test or something else.
“North Korea will continue to launch a satellite that I think most analysts believe is actually an intercontinental ballistic missile — demonstrating an increased ability to attack U.S. bases in the Pacific and on the mainland,” he said.
Najib added that he saw Pyongyang’s latest statement as a “signal” from North Korea to the US to take the country more seriously and return to the negotiating table – as Washington’s foreign policy focus remains on China and Taiwan.
“North Korea’s inability to move forward with some sort of compromise that would allow for verifiable, irreversible denuclearization does put the Biden administration in a position where, if North Korea doesn’t make a compromise, they (the United States) can continue and will continue to strengthen their regional deterrent capabilities,” he said.
“North Korea has been heavily sanctioned for years, and it’s still engaging in provocative behavior, which leads to the question of whether we need a new strategy and who we work with … I just don’t think there’s an easy solution As we make progress on this issue,” he said.
“Biden’s first priority is of course China, then Russia, and then ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region in general () relations with China,” he said.