Pyongyang notified Tokyo of the launch, urging Japanese authorities to be ready for any “unpredictable events.”. Image credit: NK news
North Korea announced a plan to launch a satellite between May 27 and June 4 this week, which may coincide with a trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan and China.
Japanese authorities early Monday, seeing that such “action may interfere with national peace”, said Japanese relevant ministries and agencies will ”Cooperate with the United States, South Korea, and other relevant countries to strongly urge North Korea to refrain from launching the missile”.
According to the Japanese Prime Minister’s Office reports, Pyongyang notified Tokyo of the launch, urging Japanese authorities to be ready for any “unpredictable events.”
The Japanese coast guard also disclosed coordinates for rocket stage drop zones in the Yellow Sea, indicating the launch will take place from North Korea’s main spaceport, the Sohae Satellite Launching Grounds on the northwest coast, NK news agency reported.
The strategically planned areas exactly match the predicted drop zones for all three DPRK satellite launches last year. The first two attempts in May and August ended in failure, dropping into waters southwest of North Korea. Pyongyang finally succeeded the third time in November, it added.
The satellite launch notification by North Korea is quite indicative of a planned week course,
While North Korea had previously launched rockets at the very beginning of each announced period, this notification is quite indicative of a planned week course.
Leader Kim Jong Un, after placing North Korea’s first spy satellite in orbit, has put precedence over establishing space-based military operations to obtain information on activities of foreign military forces.
Also part of his Space-based military reconnaissance, president Kim announced at a ruling party meeting last year the planned launch of three more Malligyong-1 satellites in 2024.
News of the planned satellite launch comes as the South Korean president and the premiers of Japan and China prepare to hold their first trilateral summit in more than four years in Seoul on Monday, following a series of bilateral meetings the previous day, North Korea News Media Said.
According to another report, the alerts about the launch also was made three days after South Korea’s military claimed it had signs that Pyongyang was getting ready for its fourth launch.
