(RightWing.org) – On May 30, North Korea’s state-run media (KCNA) published an article detailing the upcoming launch of a military reconnaissance satellite. In an unusual move of openness, the following day, the government announced that the “Malligyong-1” crashed into the Yellow Sea due to an ignition failure with the launch rocket’s second stage. A recent report indicated the Kim Jong-un regime is still concerned about that incident, calling it the “most serious” failure within the country’s current defense effort.
On June 16, the 8th Enlarged Plenary Meeting of the Workers Party’s 8th Central Committee of North Korea convened to discuss “policy issues of weighty significance.” North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un attended the session along with military leaders and officials from the nation’s Political Bureau and Central Committee.
Attendees discussed various topics ranging from education and the economy to enhancing the role of officials, intensifying party discipline, and strengthening the nation’s global standing. The meeting also covered the necessity of pursuing science and technology as a “core strategy in all fields and sectors,” particularly regarding the nation’s space industry.
North Korea described its failed military surveillance launch last month as the “most serious” shortcoming and ordered officials to attempt a second launch, state media reported. https://t.co/UftPFoTzXe
— The Hill (@thehill) June 20, 2023
Likewise, Central Committee and Political Bureau members stressed the importance of advancing that technology “offensively, tactically, and powerfully.” They also addressed the need to update military hardware to support the country’s national defense strategy.
Noting the “serious situation” in the Korean Peninsula, attendees discussed the necessary tasks to develop the nation’s powerful military capabilities and to expose US imperialists and its South Korean “puppet forces.”
Acknowledging recent advancements toward achieving those goals, meeting participants discussed current shortcomings “that cannot be overlooked.” They noted that the “most serious one” was the failed launch of its so-called military reconnaissance satellite. They reportedly “bitterly criticized” the officials responsible for that failure, not that having a spy satellite in orbit is a matter of “great significance” impacting the combat readiness of the nation’s armed forces.
The officials concluded that portion of the meeting by calling on military officials and scientists to make a “thorough analysis” of the “recent failure” and to quickly launch a new satellite — successfully this time.
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