WNAM MONITORING: North Korea has notified Japan of a plan to launch a space rocket carrying a satellite between Monday and midnight of June 3, Kyodo News reported, citing Japan’s coast guard.
The notice on the eight-day window came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are set to hold a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Monday, where evolving North Korean threats are likely to figure prominently.
It designated three areas where debris will fall — two west of the Korean Peninsula and the other east of the Philippines’ island of Luzon, according to the news outlet.
Pyongyang has made public a plan to launch three more satellites this year following its first military reconnaissance satellite launch in November.
The launch plan comes despite international criticism that any launch using ballistic missile technology is in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Last week, the South Korean military said it had detected apparent signs of Pyongyang preparing for a military spy satellite launch in a launch site on its west coast.
Observers said that the North appears intent to secure intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets as it is far behind the allies in ISR capabilities despite its focus on developing an array of formidable weapons systems, including submarine-launched ballistic missiles and tactical nuclear arms. (Yonhap)
