N.Korea completes 'final-stage' test of spy satellite

North Korea conducted a "final-stage test," on Sunday, for the development of a spy satellite, the first military reconnaissance satellite, according to Korean Central News Agency.

The spokesperson for the National Aerospace Development Administration (NADA) said that the test was conducted primarily for evaluating the capabilities of satellite photography and data transmission system and ground control system.

This test also verified photography control command and attitude control command for various kinds of cameras in the optimum environment simulating space environment after the high-angle launch of a test-piece satellite into the altitude of 500km with one panchromatic camera for 20m resolution test, two multispectral cameras, video transmitter and transmitters and receivers of several bands, control devices, and batteries, the spokesperson said.

The test confirmed the important technical indices including the technology of camera operation in the space environment, data processing and transmission capability of communication devices, and the tracking and controlling the accuracy of the ground control system, according to KCNA.

The NADA announced that it would finish the preparations for the spy satellite by April 2023.

This statement came after South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it had detected the launches from the Tongchang-RI area, North Pyongan Province between 11:13 am and 12:05 pm (local time).

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were fired at steep angles and flew around 500 kilometers. The JCS said that the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States have been carrying out an analysis for other details with regard to North Korea's recent missile activities.

Pyongyang's latest missile launch comes a month after it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) believed to be capable of reaching the whole of the continental US, according to Yonhap news agency.

Earlier on Thursday, North Korea carried out an "important test" on a "high-thrust solid-fuel" motor to create "another new-type strategic weapon system," Yonhap news agency cited Korean Central News Agency.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned North Korea's missile launches and called it an "act of significant provocation" that undermines peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the international community, as per the Yonhap news agency report. It stressed that the action was a "clear" breach of the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff underscored that Seoul will continue to maintain a readiness posture depending on its capabilities to respond "overwhelmingly" to any provocations by Pyongyang. South Korea's JCS called on North Korea to stop carrying out such actions.

"We strongly condemned them and urge the North to immediately stop them," Yonhap news agency quoted South Korea's JCS as saying in the message.

In November, North Korea launched a ballistic missile, the Japanese Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. Pyongyang fired what seemed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) eastward Friday, Yonhap news agency reported citing a defense source.

Japanese Prime Minister's Office tweeted, "[Emergency alert] North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow." South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) earlier announced that North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile.