Japan Confirms Object Orbiting Earth Following North Korea’s Satellite Launch

Revealed during Defense Ministry press conference
Details regarding the success of the launch were not mentioned

On the 24th, Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi confirmed that “some object is orbiting the earth” about North Korea’s military reconnaissance satellite launch, as reported by Kyodo News on the same day. However, Kishi did not comment on whether the launch was successful. The Japanese government plans to continue analyzing whether the object confirmed this time has communicated with the ground and other normal operations.

Earlier, at a press conference on the 22nd, the day after North Korea’s launch on the 21st, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that he could not confirm the success of entering orbit at this point and emphasized the need for comprehensive and professional analysis, which requires time.

North Korea initially notified the Japanese government that it would launch a satellite between 0:00 on the 22nd and 0:00 on December 1. Still, it launched the reconnaissance satellite at 10:43 pm on the 21st, about an hour earlier than planned. The North announced on the 22nd that the launch was successful, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military also expressed the view that it had entered the Earth’s orbit on the same day.

By. Song Joo Hee