North Korea has warned any potential interference or attack on its \u201cspace assets\u201d by the United States will be \u201cdeemed a declaration of war,\u201d the state media outlet KCNA reported on Saturday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe US Space Force\u2019s deplorable hostility toward the DPRK\u2019s reconnaissance satellite can never be overlooked as it is just a challenge to the sovereignty of the DPRK, and more exactly, a declaration of war against it,\u201d the country\u2019s defense ministry said in a statement reported by KCNA. <\/p>\n
DPRK stands for Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea, the official name of North Korea. <\/p>\n
The warning came less than two weeks after Pyongyang said it had put its first spy satellite into space, in a move which analysts predicted could enable the country to more accurately target opponents\u2019 forces, if the spacecraft works. <\/p>\n
Neither South Korea, the United States nor Japan, all of which are experiencing increasing military tensions with North Korea, could confirm \u201cMalligyong-1,\u201d had made it into orbit. <\/p>\n
Just days after the North Korean launch, the South sent its own first spy satellite into orbit with the help of space company SpaceX. <\/p>\n
The KCNA report claimed that Pyongyang\u2019s warning followed an alleged comment from a US Space Command official who \u201cspouted rubbish hinting at a military attack on the DPRK\u2019s reconnaissance satellite.\u201d <\/p>\n
KCNA said that the unnamed American official allegedly claimed the US \u201ccan decrease the enemy country\u2019s outer space operation capabilities\u201d by employing \u201cdiverse reversible and irreversible methods.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear who that US official may be. <\/p>\n
Pyongyang says its satellite is for reconnaissance and \u201cis not regarded as a space weapon by international law for its technical features aimed at observation.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, analysts claim the spacecraft is meant for spying and increasing North Korea\u2019s military capabilities. <\/p>\n
In response to the November 21 launch, the US Department of Treasury\u2019s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Thursday sanctioned eight foreign-based DPRK agents \u201cthat facilitate sanctions evasion, including revenue generation and missile-related technology procurement\u00a0that support the DPRK\u2019s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.\u201d <\/p>\n
It also sanctioned what it called a cyber espionage group called Kimsuky for \u201cgathering intelligence to support the DPRK\u2019s strategic objectives,\u201d according to a statement on the\u00a0Treasury Department\u2019s website. <\/p>\n
The November launch was condemned by North Korea\u2019s neighbors Japan and South Korea, with Seoul calling it a \u201cclear violation\u201d of a UN Security Council resolution that prohibits North Korea from using ballistic missile technology. <\/p>\n
However, Pyongyang warned that if its reconnaissance satellite is regarded as a \u201cmilitary threat\u201d that \u201cmust be gotten rid of\u201d then it should also destroy \u201ccountless spy satellites of the US flying above the Korean peninsula region every day, exclusively tasked with monitoring the major strategic spots of the DPRK.\u201d <\/p>\n
It also called the US \u201cchief culprit of evils\u201d for allegedly turning space \u201cinto a theater of war.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pyongyang\u2019s move has led the South Korean government to partially suspend an agreement it had with North Korea that limited the South\u2019s reconnaissance and surveillance activities along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two countries. <\/p>\n
North Korea subsequently vowed to deploy new military hardware along the military demarcation line. <\/p>\n\n
North Korea has warned any potential interference or attack on its \u201cspace assets\u201d by the United States will be \u201cdeemed a declaration of war,\u201d the state media outlet KCNA reported on Saturday. \u201cThe US Space Force\u2019s deplorable hostility toward the DPRK\u2019s reconnaissance satellite can never be overlooked as it is just a challenge to the <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}