Kim Yo-jong: "Stop Criticizing North Korea... Countries That Launched Thousands of Satellites Are Self-Contradictory"

"US Fills North Korean Airspace with Reconnaissance Drones"
"Satellite Soon to Enter Space... Mission Commencement"

Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Director of the Workers' Party of Korea and younger sister of Kim Jong-un, criticized the United States for condemning the launch of a space launch vehicle that North Korea claims to be a 'military reconnaissance satellite,' and announced the policy to continue pursuing satellite launches.

In a statement titled "No one can deny our sovereign right to launch satellites," released on the 1st through the Korean Central News Agency, Deputy Director Kim asserted, "The United States is openly revealing its inherent anti-Republic hostility over the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, which belongs to the self-defense rights of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

North Korea's Kim Yo-jong

She argued, "If our satellite launch must be condemned, then countries that have already launched thousands of satellites, starting with the United States, should all be condemned," adding, "This is nothing but a self-contradictory sophism."

She continued, "Even at this moment, the skies over the Korean Peninsula are filled with numerous reconnaissance satellites and high-altitude unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, all watching our every move with intense scrutiny. For the United States to pick on our military reconnaissance satellite launch is truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black and is utterly absurd," she criticized.

Furthermore, Deputy Director Kim boasted, "I affirm that the military reconnaissance satellite will soon accurately enter orbit and begin its mission." North Korea launched the space launch vehicle Manrikyong-1, which it claims to be the 'first military reconnaissance satellite,' the day before, but it experienced abnormal flight due to engine failure and crashed into the West Sea. Our military authorities have recovered some debris from the launch vehicle and are analyzing it, with plans to continue salvage operations.