US ‘strongly condemns’ North Korea’s alleged satellite launch

The Biden administration on Tuesday condemned North Korea after the country’s official news agency said Pyongyang had tried and failed to launch a military satellite.

“The United States strongly condemns the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for its launch using ballistic missile technology, which is a brazen violation of several UN Security Council resolutions, increases tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region and beyond,” National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said in a statement.

Hodge also said the apparent launch of the satellite “involved technologies directly related to the DPRK’s intercontinental ballistic missile program.”

President Biden and his team will monitor the situation “in close coordination” with their allies, the statement said, and will urge other countries to condemn North Korea’s launch and call on Pyongyang to join serious negotiations on the issue.

“The door has not closed on diplomacy but Pyongyang must immediately cease its provocative actions and choose engagement instead,” Hodge said. “The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and the defense of our Republic of Korea and our Japanese allies.”

The statement came after North Korea announced earlier today that it planned to launch its first military spy satellite next month, saying the new military equipment was needed because of the ‘reckless’ military drills. between the United States and South Korea.

In a statement, Ri Pyong Chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party in the North, said the country’s reconnaissance satellite will be used to “strengthen the military readiness of the DPRK’s armed forces”. .

“In the current situation caused by the reckless military acts of the United States and South Korea, we constantly feel the need to expand reconnaissance and information capabilities and improve various defensive and offensive weapons and have the timelines for carrying out their development plans,” Ri added. .

“We will thoroughly examine present and future threats and more fully implement comprehensive and practical war deterrent enhancement activities.”

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Lim Soo-suk urged North Korea not to launch its military spy satellite, calling the move “absurd”.