US, Japan, S.Korea eye sharing DPRK missile warning data

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Jun 2023 11:01

The United States, Japan, and South Korea agree on activating "a data sharing mechanism to exchange real-time missile warning data before the end of the year."

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup pose for a picture during trilateral talks in Singapore in 2022. (Japanese Defense Ministry)

Following a defense chiefs' meeting in Singapore, the United States, Japan, and South Korea announced in a statement a plan to share DPRK's missile warning data before the end of 2023.

The three countries "recognized trilateral efforts to activate a data sharing mechanism to exchange real-time missile warning data before the end of the year in order to improve each country's ability to detect and assess missiles launched" by DPRK, the statement said.

The announcement comes shortly after DPRK confirmed that a military reconnaissance satellite that aims to monitor US military activities and its regional allies in real-time is due for launch this month.

Last week, the Vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission of the DPRK ruling Workers' Party, Ri Pyong Chol, released a statement saying that the "military reconnaissance satellite No. 1" will be "launched in June," as cited by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in its report.

That satellite, along with "various reconnaissance means due to be newly tested, are indispensable to tracking, monitoring...and coping in advance [and] in real-time with the dangerous military acts of the US and its vassal forces," the statement said.

On June 2, in a statement reported by KCNA, Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry denounced Antonio Guterres' bias and double-standardness over his statement condemning the latter's satellite launch.

The satellite which was unsuccessfully launched by the DPRK on May 31 was necessary for maintaining the DPRK's security against potential military threats, the official explained, noting that Security Council resolutions sanctioning the DPRK's right to space exploration are a result of the anti-Korean policies of the US and their allies.

Pyongyang revealed that it plans to carry out a second launch as soon as possible.

This comes in light of recent US military exercises with regional allies South Korea and Japan on the Korean Peninsula, which the North perceives as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory.