SEOUL – North Korea is determined to launch more spy satellites in the near future to collect information on the military activities of its enemies, a commentary carried by state news agency KCNA said on Dec 9.

The satellites will be modelled after the Malligyong-1 satellite that Pyongyang launched in November, which governments in the United States, South Korea and Japan said violated United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“If necessary, they will perfectly execute the job of guiding and leading us towards a super strong strike,” the anonymous commentary said while defending space development as its right to defend itself.

The national security advisers of the US, South Korea and Japan are set to hold a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Dec 9 to discuss North Korea and other global issues.

In a separate article on KCNA, Mr Ro Ju Hyon, who the agency described as an international affairs analyst, criticised South Korea for “reckless military aid to Ukraine”.

It cited a Washington Post article from earlier this week, which reported that South Korea’s indirect provision of 155mm shells made it a “larger supplier of artillery ammunition for Ukraine than all European nations combined”.

“This is the top-class pro-US act to put even the West, steeped in anti-Russia policy, into the shade,” Mr Ro said.

North Korea has been criticised over its ties with Russia by South Korea, Japan and the US, who say Pyongyang is providing arms support to Moscow in return for help advancing its military capabilities.

In November, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said the US had information that indicated North Korea was covertly supplying Russia with a “significant” number of artillery shells for its war in Ukraine. REUTERS