Japan informs North Korea about planned military spy satellite launch

North Korea told Japan that they want to send a satellite into space next week. They want to launch a second spy satellite for military purposes.

Leaders from South Korea, Japan, and China met in Seoul for their first joint meeting on Monday, and they received a notification about a launch.

Japan’s coast guard was told by North Korea that they plan to launch a “satellite rocket” in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and China, and east of the Philippine island of Luzon starting on Monday and lasting until midnight on June 3.

North Korea shares its rocket launch details with Japan because Japan’s coast guard helps keep ships safe in the region.

The Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, told officials to work together with the United States, South Korea, and other countries to ask North Korea not to launch anything and to be ready in case something goes wrong.

The launch plan probably means that North Korea is trying to send a second spy satellite into space for military purposes. The military in South Korea found signs that North Korea might be getting ready to launch a spy satellite at its Tongchangri launch facility.

In November, North Korea sent its first military satellite into space to spy on the US and other military threats. North Korea wants spy satellites to watch the US and South Korea closely and make its missiles more accurate.

Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, said at a meeting at the end of the year that the country will send three more military spy satellites into space in 2024.

The UN tells North Korea it can’t launch any satellites because they think it’s really a way for them to test their missile technology. North Korea says it can launch satellites and test missiles.

The satellite launch in November made tensions between North and South Korea worse. Both countries are now breaking the agreement they made in 2018 to reduce military tensions.

In the last few years, North Korea has been doing a lot of missile tests to make its weapons stronger. This has made the US, South Korea and Japan work together to make their security stronger too. According to experts, North Korea probably thinks that having more weapons would give them more power when negotiating with the US in the future.

North Korea was not on the list of topics for Monday’s meeting between Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.

On Sunday, Yoon talked to Li about North Korea’s nuclear program and military ties with Russia. Yoon also asked China to help promote peace on the Korean Peninsula because it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

South Korea, Japan, and the US have been asking China, who is North Korea’s main friend and provides them with money, to help convince North Korea to stop trying to build nuclear weapons. China is believed to not be following all the rules set by the UN to stop North Korea. They are also thought to be sending secret aid to help North Korea.

On Sunday, the North Korean Vice Defence Minister, Kim Kang Il, said they might take aggressive action in response to South Korean navy and coast guard ships crossing the disputed sea boundary. There have been many fights in that area in recent years.

He promised to get back at South Korean activists who were sending negative messages about North Korea across the border.