North Korea announced on Sunday that its new Malligyong-1 spy satellite had begun official operations, following a warning the previous day that any attempt by the U.S. to disable or destroy it would be viewed as an act of war. This declaration came two days after South Korea entered space, claiming it had successfully placed its first reconnaissance satellite in orbit.
North Korean state media revealed that data collected by Pyongyang’s first intelligence satellite in orbit would be sent to the party’s Central Military Commission, “major units regarded as war deterrence,” and the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which oversees the country’s espionage assets and military special forces.
The rehtoric escalated on Saturday when the regime of Kim Jong-un warned that any “U.S. Space Force’s deplorable hostility” towards the Malligyong-1 could be seen as a challenge to national sovereignty and a declaration of war. Both Seoul and Washington have opposed the launch, alleging it violated U.N. Security Council sanctions on the North Korean regime.
As the space race over Korea intensifies, and with Russia and the United States seemingly locked in a competition to support their preferred states on the divided, heavily armed peninsula, questions have arisen about the clarity and availability of the imagery captured by the Mallygyong-1, given that no images have been released by the North.
According to experts, the U.S. Space Force has various means to frustrate an adversary’s space operations, including missile strikes or “proximity operation” by a “space tug” to nudge it out of orbit, signal jamming, or cyber and electronic warfare to disrupt the satellite’s data link. South Korea also has its own expanding space ambitions, including a space launch vehicles program and a reconnaissance satellite constellation.
In addition to its independent programs, South Korea is involved in the U.S.-led Artemis initiative, a combined robot-manned Moon mission program. This will provide dual-use technologies and skills for the South Koreans, including space-related AI, computation advances, hardware, and robotics.
