North Korea hails development of new spy satellite, but analysts say it is 'useless'
North Korea on Monday said it fulfilled an "important final-stage test" in its pursuit to develop the country's first spy satellite, a new weapon that analysts said was too crude for what Pyongyang aimed to accomplish.
In an apparent bid to show off its growing space surveillance capabilities, North Korean state media released low-resolution, black-and-white photos showing a view from space of two South Korean cities, including the capital Seoul, presumably from the new experimental satellite.
The rocket carrying the test satellite was launched on Sunday to assess its photography and data transmission systems, state media said.
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It called the results "an important success which has gone through the final gateway process of the launch of a reconnaissance satellite", with testing to be completed by April.
It said the cameras on the experimental satellite had an imaging resolution of 20 metres, which analysts say pales in comparison to US spy satellites which can read a car number plate from space.
"This level of imaging resolution is too crude to be used for any purpose, not to mention surveillance purposes," Lee Il-woo, an analyst at the think tank Korea Defence Network told This Week in Asia. "It's simply useless."
Lee also suggested the satellite launch may have been a cover to again test two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
North Korea launched Hwasong-17 ICBMs in February and March, claiming they were spy satellite test launches. Pyongyang is banned from developing such weapons under a series of UN Security Council sanctions.
South Korea, Japan and US authorities on Sunday said they detected a pair of ballistic missile launches by North Korea from its northwestern Tongchang-ri area, where the North's satellite launch pad is located.
They said the missiles flew about 500km (310 miles) at a maximum altitude of 550km before landing in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
Other experts said the reason behind the North's test was apparently to boast of its own reconnaissance ability after South Korea successfully launched a home-grown solid-fuel space rocket in efforts to develop its own spy satellites, earlier this year.
"The North must have been jolted by the South developing its own military satellites," said Hong Min, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification.
Developing its own spy satellites is one of the North's three key military targets alongside the development of tactical nuclear weapons that can be used in battle and strategic nuclear missiles such as ICBMs, Hong said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for such modern weapons and an expanded nuclear arsenal to pressure the United States to abandon its hostile policies on North Korea, an apparent reference to US-led sanctions and the US-South Korean military drills that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.
North Korea has avoided fresh sanctions for its provocative moves, however, because Security Council permanent members Russia and China will not support US attempts to impose them.
Analysis of a photo from Sunday's launch showed the missiles were likely a new type of a liquid-fuelled weapon that can be used militarily as well as for sending a satellite into orbit, said Lee Choon-geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea's Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Yang Moo-jin, a political-science professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said Pyongyang would likely launch a reconnaissance satellite, probably around April 15, the birthday of Kim Jong-un's late grandfather and state founder Kim Il-sung.
"And the North is likely to tout it as another achievement by Kim Jong-un," he said.
Earlier this year, North Korea test-launched a record number of missiles, many of them nuclear-capable missiles with varying ranges to reach the US mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan.
It also legislated a law authorising the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons on a broad range of scenarios, raising alarms in South Korea and elsewhere.
"Having codified his country's nuclear law earlier this year, tested missiles of varying capabilities, and made it very clear he has no interest in diplomacy with the US and South Korea, Kim has essentially paved the way for nuclearisation," said Soo Kim, a security analyst at the California-based RAND Corporation.
She also said a handful of other high-priority geopolitical concerns involving China and Russia "has allowed Kim to buy time and the grace of the international community to push forward with his plan".
Additional reporting by Associated Press
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
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