Kim Jong-un confirms satellite images of US military bases in South Korea and Hawaii: State media
North Korean state media reported on Saturday that leader Kim Jong Un had reviewed images taken by the country’s new reconnaissance satellite of “key target areas” including the U.S. military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and facilities across South Korea. Ta.
North Korea successfully put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit earlier this week, but South Korea said it was too early to tell whether the satellite was working as North Korea claimed.
Experts say putting a working reconnaissance satellite into orbit would improve North Korea’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, especially over South Korea, and provide critical data in any military conflict.
North Korea previously claimed that within hours of Tuesday’s launch, Kim showed it photos of a U.S. military base in Guam taken by a satellite named Wanrikyo-1.
On Saturday, North Korea claimed that Kim had inspected images taken when the satellite passed over Hawaii at around 5 a.m., including the “Pearl”, according to the North Korean official’s Korean Central News Agency. It also included images of Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, a naval base in the Bay, and Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu. News agency.
Kim also confirmed a satellite image of the South Korean port city of Busan that North Korea said it took around 10 a.m. Saturday.
North Korea claimed the photos also included a photo of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
According to the Seoul military, Carl Vinson arrived at Busan Naval Base on Tuesday.
KCNA said in an earlier report on Saturday that Kim had spent the previous day scrutinizing satellite images of South Korea’s “key target areas,” including the capital and cities with U.S. military bases.
It added that Friday’s images also included parts of North Korea.
Among the South Korean cities mentioned, Pyeongtaek, about 60 kilometers from Seoul, is home to Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas U.S. military installation in the world.
Pyeongtaek is also home to Osan Air Base, which is home to the Seoul Air Force Operations Command and the US Air Force base.
In response to North Korea’s satellite launch, South Korea has only partially suspended a five-year military agreement between the two countries aimed at easing tensions on the peninsula.
Separately, the US State Department said in a statement that top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and the US “strongly condemn this destabilizing launch in the region” after a joint phone call on Friday.
The launch “used ballistic missile technology in violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the statement said.
Seoul’s intelligence agency said North Korea received help from Moscow for this week’s successful launch, after two failed attempts to put a satellite into orbit earlier this year.
North Korea’s National Aerospace Technology Administration will continue “additional fine-tuning” of the reconnaissance satellite’s capabilities on Saturday, KCNA said.
Source: guardian.ng