Leave our spy satellite or it's war, North Korea warns US

North Korea has warned the US that any interference or attack on its spy satellite would be "deemed a declaration of war" after South Korea launched its own eye in the sky into orbit.

- SHWETA SHARMA

Pyongyang would respond to any US meddling with its "space assets" by eliminating the viability of US spy satellites and would mobilise its war deterrence, state media KCNA said.

“The US Space Force’s deplorable hostility toward the DPRK’s 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,” the country’s defence ministry said in a statement reported by KCNA.

“In case the US tries to violate the legitimate territory of a sovereign state by weaponising the latest technologies illegally and unjustly, the DPRK will consider taking responsive action measures for self-defence to undermine or destroy the viability of the US spy satellites.”

North Korea launched its “Malligyong-1” spy satellite on 21 November in what was its third attempt at putting such a satellite in orbit, after two failures in May and August. It came before South Korea’s scheduled launch of its spy satellite into space, amid an intensifying space race on the peninsula.