Seoul, Nov 28 (EFE).- The spy satellite recently put into orbit by North Korea has taken photos of the White House, the Pentagon and other key US defense installations, state media reported Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the control center of the National Aerospace Technology istration (NATA) in Pyongyang, where he viewed satellite images of the White House, the Pentagon, the main US Norfolk naval base and the nearby Newport News shipyards (where aircraft carriers and submarines are assembled), according to KCNA.
The report from the North Korean state news agency specifies the times in which the photos were taken – around 11.35 pm local time (14:35 GMT) on Monday – and adds that “four US Navy nuclear carriers and one British aircraft carrier were spotted in the photos of the Norfolk Naval Station and the Newport News Dockyard” in order to provide evidence for the statement.
Kim received a report on preparations for the Malligyong-1 reconnaissance satellite to be operational, which are being accelerated so that the device will be ready one or two days before the initially planned date (Dec. 1), according to KCNA.
North Korea, which said it has also taken images of US military bases on the island of Guam and of Rome, Italy, has not yet published any photos obtained by its new satellite, launched into orbit on Nov. 21.
Experts believe that, regardless of the possibility that the quality of the images captured by the North Korean satellite could be low, the deployment of the device is an important leap that would now allow Pyongyang to detect, for example, movements of troops and assets or targets for potential preventive attacks.
NATA has said that at the next plenary session of the North Korean sole party, scheduled for the end of December, it will present its plan to soon launch several additional reconnaissance satellites in order to strengthen its surveillance capacity from space. EFE
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