With a strong “we are watching you too” message to the world, North Korea has sent its first spy satellite on a global orbit. North Korean state media on Tuesday said leader Kim Jong Un had reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and US aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk.
North Korea last week has successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite, which it said was designed to monitor US and South Korean military movements.
Since the spy satellite was launched, it was reported that it had photographed many cities and military bases in South Korea, Guam, and Italy in addition to the US.
"Remember when you got that toy you always wanted at Xmas and were so excited you wanted to tell everyone about it?" Chad O'Carroll, founder of the North Korea-focused website NK News, said of the KCNA reports in a post on X.
In December last year, North Korea released the panchromatic imagery of downtown Seoul after a rocket launch.
KCNA has reported that the Tuesday's photos were the latest in a series of images it described as "major target regions".
According to KCNA, four nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and a British aircraft carrier were spotted as Kim inspected the satellite photos. However, the images were not released by North Korea to confirm the claims.
Meanwhile, the United States and South Korea have condemned the satellite launch as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions banning any use of ballistic technology.
South Korea delays its spy satellite launch
South Korea’s plan to launch its first military spy satellite on Thursday was postponed to Saturday. Under a contract with SpaceX, South Korea is to launch five spy satellites by 2025, and its first launch using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket had been scheduled to take place at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base in the United States.
In a statement, South Korean Defence Ministry said the launch was delayed due to weather conditions. The Ministry officials said the launch was rescheduled for this Saturday but it wasn't fixed yet.
