North Korea launches reconnaissance satellite ahead of China’s visit to Korea… China, again?

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On the afternoon of the 21st, North Korea launched a ‘military reconnaissance satellite’ from the West Sea Satellite Launch Center in Dongchang-ri, Cholsan-gun, North Pyongan Province. (Pyongyang Rodong Sinmun = News 1)

North Korea went ahead with the launch of the so-called ‘military reconnaissance satellite’ despite concerns and demands from the international community, including the South Korean government, to stop it. Accordingly, interest is focused on what position the Chinese authorities, who have virtually tolerated North Korea’s military provocations such as ballistic missile launches, will take.

In particular, Korea and China are planning a meeting to discuss pending issues between the two countries, taking advantage of the Korea-Japan-China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting to be held in Korea soon. Attention is being paid to our side as it is certain that we will urge the Chinese authorities to play a ‘constructive role’ in resolving North Korea-related issues at this Korea-China foreign ministers’ meeting.

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According to our military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 22nd, North Korea launched a space launch vehicle from the West Sea Satellite Launch Center in Dongchang-ri, Cholsan-gun, North Pyongan Province, at approximately 10:43 p.m. the previous day.

In response to this, North Korea claimed through a state media report on this day that it had “successfully launched” the ‘Chollima-1’ rocket carrying the reconnaissance satellite ‘Wangli-1’ and that the satellite had “entered the orbit accurately.”

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Our military authorities, along with their U.S. and Japanese counterparts, are currently evaluating and analyzing whether North Korea’s latest satellite launch was actually successful.

The UN Security Council resolution, which aims to halt North Korea’s nuclear and missile development, prohibits the launch of North Korea’s ballistic missiles and aircraft using such technology. Since space launch vehicles for satellites also use ballistic missile technology, North Korea’s latest satellite launch, regardless of whether it is successful or not, is itself a violation of the Security Council resolution.

However, despite having the status of a permanent member of the Security Council, the Chinese authorities, along with Russia, another permanent member, have expressed “legitimate concerns” on security grounds about North Korea’s series of armed provocations since last year when North Korea resumed test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for the first time in five years. It has been claimed that it is in accordance with “. The logic of both China and Russia was that North Korea was acting like that because of joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

However, regarding North Korea’s latest satellite launch, it is assessed that North Korea supplied war weapons to Ukraine in order to receive technical support from Russia, and that China has recently taken a step back from the competition for hegemony with the United States to improve relations. There is also an observation that “we can expect some change in attitude on the Chinese side” due to the fact that it is promoting this.

Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University, said, “North Korea’s latest satellite launch can be seen as the first case of implementing weapons system capabilities within military cooperation between Russia and North Korea,” and added, “China, which has been trying to distance itself from trilateral cooperation discussions between North Korea, China, and Russia, has ulterior motives.” “It will be complicated,” he said.

However, Professor Park said, “In the grand scheme of things, it does not seem likely that China will send a different message than before,” and added, “From China’s perspective, North Korea’s satellite launch will be less of a burden than an ICBM.” This means that it is difficult to expect China to directly condemn the ‘illegality’ of North Korea’s recent satellite launch.

Yang Gap-yong, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy, said the Chinese side “is likely to only talk in principle” at the Korea-China foreign ministers’ meeting. He predicted, “They may come up with a claim.”

Currently, the diplomatic authorities of Korea, Japan, and China are coordinating a plan to hold a foreign ministers’ meeting in Busan around the 26th, with Foreign Minister Park Jin, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attending.

Source: Donga

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