North Korea has succeeded in sending its spy satellite into orbit

North Korea announced this Wednesday through its state media that it had successfully launched its first spy satelliteafter the launch of a space rocket the day before that was detected by Seoul and Tokyo.

“The Chollima-1 space rocket flew normally along the preset trajectory and accurately placed the ‘Malligyong-1’ satellite into orbit at 22:54.13, 705 seconds after launch,” the state agency said. North Korea’s KCNA.

Allegedly a successful launch by Pyongyang, which has not yet been confirmed by the side United States or South Koreait comes after two failed attempts in May and August and was overseen by the North Korean leader Kim Jong-unreported by the aforementioned media.

North Korea defended the launch of its satellite into orbit as part of its a “legitimate” right to strengthen its defense capabilitiesand promised to launch more of these intelligence devices “within a short period of time,” according to a KCNA memo obtained by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

The media in Pyongyang added that the launch “will make a significant contribution to the definitive strengthening of the war capabilities of the armed forces” of North Korea.

The South Korean military reported a day earlier that it had detected “what North Korea claims is a military reconnaissance satellite” and that it was “launched in a southerly direction from the Tongchang-ri area (in the northwest of the country, where the Sohae Launch Base is located) around 10:43 p.m. (13:43 GMT)” on Tuesday.

The launch also caused Japan’s national anti-missile system to be activated for several minutes, sending a message to residents of Okinawa Prefecture (southwest) warning of an “apparent missile launch from North Korea” and recommending “evacuate inside a building or underground.”

The space rocket was launched about an hour before a deadline for North Korea to notify maritime authorities to restrict navigation in areas where missile debris could fall took effect, which was extended from midnight today (1500 GMT) until December 1. .

It is believed that North Korea had technological help and advice from Moscow for its new launchafter the summit held in September between the North Korean leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which served to cement an agreement focused on military and aerospace cooperation and trade.

Seoul, Washington and Tokyo condemned the launch and they emphasized that it was a violation of the resolutions United Nations Security Councilwhich prohibit these exchanges, but also the launch of space rockets by Pyongyang, considering it a covert use of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) technology.