South Korea has successfully launched its fourth surveillance satellite. The country will launch another by the end of this year, allowing it to better monitor North Korea and reduce its reliance on US satellite imagery.
This was reported by the South Korean agency Yonhap.
The satellite was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 8:48 p.m. on April 21 from the Space Force Station at Cape Canaveral in Florida. It successfully entered orbit 15 minutes after liftoff. The satelliteʼs operation is now to be confirmed via communication with a ground station.
South Korea launched its first reconnaissance satellite in December 2023, and two more satellites with SAR radar sensors last year. After the launch of the fifth satellite, South Korea will be able to receive data on North Korea every two hours.
What is happening between North Korea and South Korea?
Since 1910, the entire Korean Peninsula has been part of the Japanese Empire. But in 1945, the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing Japan to surrender and ending World War II. The Korean Peninsula was divided into two parts: the American troops occupied the southern part, and the Soviets occupied the northern part. In 1945, the southern part declared the establishment of the Republic of Korea. In 1948, the communist Democratic Peopleʼs Republic of Korea emerged in the northern part.
The leader of the newly formed DPRK was Kim Il-sung, who, hoping to unify Korea, built up an army and started the Korean War (in 1950). In July 1953, the US and DPRK signed an armistice, but since then the formal end of the war has not been declared. The DPRK demands that the US withdraw troops from South Korea and lift sanctions, while the US wants the DPRK to get rid of nuclear weapons.
In the spring and summer of 2024, the DPRK repeatedly sent balloons with garbage towards South Korea. North Korea called its actions an “eye for an eye” action — they said they did this in response to leaflets calling for the overthrow of the regime, which activists sent from South Korea, also using balloons.
Finally, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Yo Jong said on October 13 that South Korea would face a “terrible disaster” if South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang again. After that, the DPRK put artillery on alert along the border with South Korea.
On October 15, North Korea blew up roads connecting it to South Korea. And the very next day, the country announced that 1.4 million North Koreans were ready for a “holy war”.
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