SEUL, Jun 1 North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and Kim Yo-jong, deputy head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea, said on Thursday that North Korea has the same right to launch satellites as all other countries, and called «unfair and predatory» the behavior of the United States, which itself filled the sky over the Korean Peninsula with reconnaissance satellites. , according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In an article titled «No One Can Deny Our Sovereign Right to Launch Satellites,» Kim Yo-jong denounced the «open hostility» and «predatory» behavior of the United States towards the DPRK in connection with the satellite launch. She noted that statements that the launch violates UN Security Council resolutions are a «hackneyed cliche» that is caused by Washington's «abnormal thinking».
“Who is really inciting unnecessary tension and destabilizing the security situation in the region? If our satellite launches should be condemned, then all the countries that have already launched thousands of satellites, starting with the United States, should also be condemned, what is it, if not self-contradiction?» — said Kim Yo-jong.
She explained that condemning only North Korean satellite launches as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions, when others are conducting them unhindered, is a «predatory, unfair and serious» violation of the DPRK's sovereignty and its right to space exploration.
“It is unfortunate that the US predatory logic is legitimized by UN Security Council resolutions. The US is a robber group that would say it is illegal and a threat, even if we just hung a satellite on a rubber balloon and launched into orbit,» Kim Jong-un's sister said, referring to statements by the United States, South Korea and other countries that the use of ballistic missile technology in a satellite launch vehicle violates UN Security Council anti-Pyongyang resolutions.
Kim Yo-jung added that «the wrong way never leads to the right answer» and not understanding this is «the tragedy of the United States in the 21st century.» She advised Washington to «cool its head» and «once again carefully read» the UN Charter and the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty.
“No one has given the US the authority to quibble over the sovereign rights of any particular country… The fact that the US is blaming the hell out of our satellites when they themselves filled the airspace over the Korean Peninsula with numerous reconnaissance satellites and unmanned surveillance vehicles at high altitude and to the point of redness in the eyes, absorbed in watching our every action is simply illogical,» Kim Jong-un's sister said.
She added that the DPRK has nothing to talk about or conduct a dialogue about which the United States «constantly chatter» with countries that at the same time promise Pyongyang «the end of the regime» and «change of the political system» through the word. She promised that the DPRK will continue to respond «in its own style» to anti-North Korean policies until the other side understands and acknowledges how «dangerous and fruitless» this activity is for it.
As the TsTAK reported earlier, on May 31 at 6.27 (0.27 Moscow time) the military reconnaissance satellite «Mulligon-1» («Telescope -1») was launched into space, but at the stage of launching the engine of the second stage of the new rocket — carrier type «Chhollima-1» (a mythical winged Korean horse, «capable of overcoming a thousand li per day»), a problem arose, as a result of which the rocket fell into the Yellow Sea. The DPRK State Administration for Space Exploration cited the unreliability and instability of the new rocket engine system and the characteristics of the fuel used as the reasons.
The State Administration of the DPRK for Space Exploration has promised to find specific causes in the near future, correct the shortcomings and repeat the launch.
South Korea condemned the launch of the DPRK satellite as a provocation and a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions, and the country's Foreign Ministry earlier promised Pyongyang «payback» for trying to launch the satellite.