The South’s anger over the North Korea’s launch of a missile satellite is political: North Korea has no intention of launching a satellite into the air

Kim wants to modernize his weapons systems to cope with U.S.-led threats and wants to have a spy satellite. Technical issues caused North Korea’s attempted launches to end in failure.

The North’s claim to have placed a military satellite into the air in its third attempt is likely to infuriate the South.

The North said it had launched a military spy satellite, prompting South Korea to temporarily suspend frontline aerial war games with North Korea.

The North’s claim hasn’t been independently verified; the Pentagon said it was still assessing the success of the launch, while Japan stated there has been no confirmation that the North Korean satellite entered orbit. The United States and its allies swiftly condemned the North Korean launch because they believe it was meant to improve the country’s missile technology.

11 rounds of sanctions have been imposed on North Korea due to its nuclear and missile tests. But it’s unlikely for the North to be hit with fresh sanctions over Tuesday’s launch. Russia and China are blocking any Security Council response over the launch activities by the North.

In June, Kim’s sister and senior ruling party official, Kim Yo Jong, called the Security Council “a political appendage” of the United States. She said the council only takes issue with North’s satellite launches when thousands of other satellites are already operating, because they’re Discriminative and rude.

The satellite that was carried into the ocean by the North Korean rocket fell into the water in the first attempt. The first and second stages separated, which caused the rocket to lose thrust. After the second attempt, North Korea said there was an error in the emergency blasting system during the third-stage flight.

In 2012 and 2016 North Korea put its satellites in the sky, but experts don’t think they have sent pictures back to the country.

Kim is eager to introduce other sophisticated weapons such as more mobile ICBMs, nuclear-powered submarines and multi-warhead missiles. Observers say Kim would want to increase his arsenal in order to get more U.S. concessions.

In response, the U.S. and South Korea have expanded their military exercises. On Tuesday, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group arrived at a South Korean port in a fresh demonstration of strength against North Korea.

Since last year, North Korea conducted about 100 missile tests in a bid to establish a reliable arsenal of nuclear weapons targeting the U.S. and its allies. According to foreign experts, North Korea is still able to acquire functioning nuclear missiles.

“What is already clear is that this is not a one-off event but part of a North Korean strategy of prioritizing military capabilities over economic development, threatening rather than reconciling with South Korea, and further aligning with Russia and China instead of pursuing diplomacy with the United States,” Easley said.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said Tuesday’s launch raises more questions than answers, such as whether the North Korean satellite actually performs reconnaissance functions and whether Russia provided technical and even material assistance.

The U.S., South Korea and others accuse North Korea of shipping conventional arms to support Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for receiving high-tech Russian technologies to enhance its own military programs. Both Russia and North Korea have denied the accusations.

South Korean officials said before the satellite launch that North Korea is likely to get technical support from Russia as part of the deal to boost their partnerships.

The launch by North Korea was described as a legitimate right of the country by the National Aerospace Technology Administration. The spy satellite would assist in the North’s war preparation, as they faced threats from their enemies.

The “Malligyong-1” satellite was placed in the air about a minute after it was launched, according to the North’s space agency. But the North’s neighbors said they haven’t confirmed whether the launch was successful.

Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, said that no confirmation of a satellite had been made so far. He still avoided calling the launch a failure, saying it would take “a fair amount of time” to verify the fate of the North’s launch.

The same satellite was used in both failed launches by North Korea. South Korea’s military retrieved debris from the first launch and called the satellite too crude to perform military reconnaissance.

After the breakdown of nuclear diplomacy between North Korea and the U.S., the Korean rapprochement period ended. North Korea has since ramped up missile tests to modernize its weapons arsenal, prompting the U.S. and South Korea to expand their defense exercises in response.

The deal invited withering conservative criticism in South Korea with critics saying it significantly restricted the operation of the country’s aerial surveillance assets, which are much more superior to North Korea’s. They also accused the deal of heavily benefiting North Korea, because it only called for mutual reductions of conventional military strength while leaving the North’s growing nuclear arsenal intact. South Korea has no weapons of mass destruction.

The 2018 agreement, struck during a short-lived era of reconciliation between the rival Koreas, created buffer and no-fly zones along the countries’ heavily fortified border. The deal required the Koreas to dismantle some of their guard posts and stop using aerial surveys on each other.

He added that based on the solid military alliance with the U.S., South Korea will “promptly and strongly punish” North Korea if it uses the South Korean step as a pretext to launch another provocation.