North Korea fires 'military spy satellite' southwards
South Korea moved to suspend on Wednesday part of a military agreement it signed with Pyongyang in 2018 after the North launched a spy satellite, calling it a success. North Korea said it placed its first spy satellite in orbit on Tuesday and vowed to launch more in the near future. Photographs published by North Korean state media showed what appeared to be leader Kim Jong Un watching the fiery launch of a rocket from a base. Officials in South Korea and Japan, which first reported the launch, could not immediately verify whether a satellite was in orbit.  South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo hosted a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and said in televised remarks the government was moving ahead to suspend part of the inter-Korean pact. President Yoon Suk Yeol is in Britain for a state visit and earlier led a meeting of the National Security Council with some ministers and the national intelligence chief by video link. The pact, known as the Comprehensive Military Agreement and aimed at de-escalating tensions in the Korean peninsula, was signed at a 2018 summit between former South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The two sides agreed to impose buffer zones where live-fire drills will be suspended, as well as no-fly zones, remove some guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone separating the countries, and maintain hotlines, among other measures. But the agreement has come under growing scrutiny and faced calls to be scrapped or suspended as critics say it limits Seoul's ability to monitor North Korea's actions around the border. South Korea's National Security Council said in a statement the move would involve restoring reconnaissance and surveillance operations around the military demarcation line between the countries. North Korea's KCNA state news agency said the Malligyong-1 satellite was launched on a Chollima-1 rocket from the Sohae satellite launch facility at 10.42 pm on Tuesday. North Korea had notified Japan it planned to launch a satellite between Wednesday and December 1, after two failed attempts to launch what it called spy satellites this year. Tuesday's launch is the first since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met Vladimir Putin at Russia's modern space facility in September for a summit at which the Russian president promised to help Pyongyang build satellites. (Reuters)_____________________________
Last updated: 2023-11-22 HKT 09:07 