Desk Report
Publish: 31 Mar 2022, 11:25 am
South Korea's solid-fuel rocket was launched from a site southwest of Seoul || South Korea Defence Ministry via AP Photo
South Korea has said it conducted
its first successful launch of a solid-fuel rocket in what it called a major
step towards acquiring space surveillance capability amid rising tensions on
the divided peninsula.
Wednesday’s launch took place six
days after North Korea said it carried out its first intercontinental ballistic
missile (ICBM) test since 2017, the latest in a flurry of weapons tests since
the start of the year.
South Korea’s launch took place
from Taean, 150 kilometres (93 miles) southwest of Seoul, in front of Defence
Minister Suh Wook and other senior defence officials, with photos showing the
rocket soaring into the sky before releasing a dummy satellite in space.
The ministry said the successful
test marked an “important milestone” in enhancing South Korea’s independent space-based
reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities.
South Korea currently has no
military reconnaissance satellites of its own and depends on the United States’
spy satellites to monitor strategic facilities in North Korea.
Pyongyang has carried out a
series of weapons tests since the start of the year, and a week ago tested what
it said was a new ICBM. The launch ended a self-imposed moratorium on big
weapons tests, broke UN Security Council resolutions and has raised concerns
the country might next resume nuclear weapons testing.
Suspicions have since been raised
about the ICBM with the South concluding earlier this week that it was a
previously-tested Hwasong-15, rather than the bigger, longer-range Hwasong-17
Pyongyang claimed to have been tested by the North. The missile flew farther
and longer than any previous North Korean launch, placing all of the mainland
US within potential striking distance.
“Coming at a very grave time
following North Korea’s lifting of the weapons tests moratorium, this
successful test-launch of the solid-fuel space launch vehicle is a key
milestone in our military’s efforts to (build) a unilateral space-based
surveillance system and bolster defence capability,” the South Korean statement
said.
Seoul secured US permission to
use solid fuel for space launch vehicles in 2020, removing a 20-year
mutually-agreed restriction over concerns that the use of the technology could
lead to bigger missiles and trigger a regional arms race.
Last year, the United States
lifted other remaining restrictions to allow South Korea to develop missiles
with unlimited ranges.
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