North Korea says satellite has images of 'target regions'

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has assessed images captured by the country's newly unveiled spy satellite, North Korean state media (KCNA) reported Friday. 

The report claimed the images were of "major target regions" in South Korea, including sites around the capital, Seoul, and other locations such as Pyeongtaek, Osan, Mokpo and Gunsan, where South Korean and US military bases are located, KCNA's report said.

The images were taken on Friday morning as the satellite passed over the Korean Peninsula on Friday morning, it added.

Later Saturday, KCNA also reported that Kim inspected images taken of the US military installations in the Pacific Ocean state of Hawaii, including the naval base at Pearl Harbor and an Air Force base in Honolulu. 

Tensions simmering over North Korean spy satellite

Earlier this week, North Korea announced that it successfully launched a military spy satellite and placed it into orbit. 

However, South Korean analysts have expressed skepticism over North Korea's claim, and said that its too early to tell if the satellite, named "Malligyong-1," is even functioning.

The launch of the spy satellite has increased tensions between the two Koreas. A five-year-old military pact established to de-escalate tensions in the peninsula was fully suspended by North Korea, and partially suspended by the South, as tensions rose after the launch. 

South Korea and its allies have condemned the launch of the satellite, with the White House calling it a "brazen violation" of UN sanctions that could destabilize the region.

Pyongyang's satellite launch has also prompted South Korea, Japan and China to hold their first trilateral talks since 2019 in Busan.

While Kim celebrated the launch of the satellite and said it is the advent of a "new era of a space power," he justified the launch as a right to self-defense.

mfi/wmr (AFP, Reuters)