Minister Shin Won-sik: "Evaluation of North Korea's Satellite Operation Possible Around This Weekend"

Attendance at National Assembly Defense Committee: "Effect of Military Agreement Suspension is 1 Trillion Won"

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said on the 23rd, "We need to observe for about 3 to 4 days to determine whether North Korea's reconnaissance satellite is operating normally."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Minister Shin explained during his appearance at the National Assembly's National Defense Committee in response to a question from Lee Hyun-seung, a member of the People Power Party, "The satellite's revisit cycle is about 1 hour and 30 minutes, so we need to capture communication with the ground and the satellite's status over several days to judge whether it is functioning normally." He added, "At the earliest, a comprehensive evaluation by South Korea, the U.S., and Japan around this weekend or early next week will be needed to know if it is operating normally."

Regarding the reason why the military authorities, who had shown a cautious attitude immediately after North Korea's reconnaissance satellite launch, later assessed that it had entered orbit, he said, "Unlike the first and second launches, this third launch was sent toward the Chinese orbit," explaining, "Therefore, the rocket performed lateral maneuvers, which cause significant energy loss." He continued, "Because of this, the altitude was lower and the speed decreased compared to the originally intended orbit, so it was true that there were talks (yesterday morning) suggesting it might not have entered a normal orbit."

Although there was a possibility raised at one point that the North Korean reconnaissance satellite failed to enter orbit due to speed reduction caused by lateral maneuvers toward the Chinese side, it was later assessed to have successfully entered space orbit. Minister Shin mentioned the possibility that Russia supported North Korea in the rocket and satellite sectors, expressing concern that the performance of North Korea's reconnaissance satellite "could be expected to have Russian technical support, which might lead to rapid advancements in the future."

Regarding the suspension of the effectiveness of the flight prohibition zone setting (Article 1, Paragraph 3) under the September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement, he evaluated, "If there is a benefit of 1 trillion won, the loss caused by it is 1 won."

In response to opposition lawmakers' criticism that the partial suspension of the military agreement's effectiveness has increased security instability on the Korean Peninsula, he stated, "What matters is whether it helps protect the lives and property of the people or not." He added, "The world is not idle enough to consider such a (1 won) loss, so the suspension of the flight prohibition zone's effectiveness is very reasonable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.