North Korea denounces ‘sinister’ South and its allies as live-fire exercises with the United States begin | South Korea

North Korean media have called plans by South Korea, the United States and Japan to share real-time data on missile launches by Kim Jong-un’s regime “sinister steps” – the North going after his neighbor this week. ever live-fire exercises with the United States.

The leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan met at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last weekend and discussed new coordination in the face of illicit nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. North Korea has undertaken a series of missile and weapons tests in recent months, most recently a new solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The North’s missile and nuclear weapons programs are banned by the UN Security Council.

As Kim Jong-un last week inspected what North Korea says is its first spy satellite, South Korea said on Thursday it had successfully flown its domestically made space rocket, delivering a commercial-grade satellite in orbit.

The Nuri rocket blasted off from Naro Space Center on South Korea’s southern coast at 6.24pm on its third flight after technical problems caused the launch to be canceled a day earlier. Among the eight satellites aboard the rocket was a commercial-grade satellite that made contact with a base station in Antarctica after a successful deployment, Science Minister Lee Jong-ho said. Six other cubesats were also deployed; the result for a seventh cubesat was not yet known.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said the launch put South Korea among the first seven countries to have orbited locally produced satellites with domestically-made launch vehicles.

The Nuri is at the heart of South Korea’s ambitious plans to revive its space program and accelerate progress on 6G networks, spy satellites and even lunar probes.

Seoul also plans to launch military satellites, but has ruled out any use of weapons for the Nuri.

Construction of North Korea’s satellite launch station has reached a “new level of urgency”, a US-based think tank said in a report on Thursday, citing satellite images.

Meanwhile, South Korea would begin sending hundreds of thousands of artillery shells into Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources, said Seoul had reached a “confidential agreement” with Washington to transfer the shells to the United States for delivery to Ukraine.

Jeon Ha-kyu, spokesman for South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said on Thursday that he had been in talks with the Pentagon about munitions exports, but there were “inaccurate parts” in the report. from the WSJ. South Korea had previously ruled out sending lethal aid to Ukraine, citing trade ties with Russia and Moscow’s influence over North Korea.

Arming Ukraine would further separate South Korea on the international stage from North Korea, which supports Russia in the war against Ukraine, is said to have supplied the Russian army and, together with Syria, is one of the only two countries to recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories.

With Reuters