North Korea Says Satellite Has Photographed White House, Pentagon
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – North Korea said its recently launched satellite has sent back “detailed” images of the White House, the Pentagon and US nuclear aircraft carriers that have been viewed by the leader, Kim Jong-un.
The existence of the images has not been independently verified, and experts say it is too soon to determine if the Malligyong-1 spy satellite is functioning properly, a week after its launch, The Guardian reported.
On Tuesday, the state-run KCNA news agency said Kim, who viewed the launch then hosted a banquet for scientists and space programme workers, had viewed photos of the two US government sites, which were taken late on Monday night.
The satellite also took photographs of a US naval base, a shipyard and an airfield in Virginia, KCNA said, adding that the images contained four US nuclear aircraft carriers and a British aircraft carrier.
Pyongyang has also said the satellite took photos of military installations in South Korea, as well as the US Pacific territory of Guam and the state of Hawaii. None of the images have been made public.
Military officials in South Korea say they believe Malligyong-1 has entered orbit, but have so far been unable to tell if it is capable of taking and sending images from space.
The spy satellite, which is thought to have been made possible with Russian technological help, sparked angry scenes at the UN Security Council on Monday.
UN sanctions apply to North Korean satellites because they incorporate banned technology used in the country’s ballistic missile program.
In a rare appearance at the Security Council, the North’s ambassador to the UN, Kim Song, accused critics of hypocrisy. “No other nation in the world is in a security environment as critical as the DPRK,” Kim said. “One belligerent party, the United States, is threatening us with a nuclear weapon.
“It is a legitimate right for the DPRK as another belligerent party to develop, test, manufacture and possess weapons systems equivalent to those that the United States possesses or is developing.”
He also mocked US criticism that satellite technology was being used to improve the North’s missile capability, asking whether Washington launched its own satellites “with a catapult”.
