US responds to recent North Korean Satellite Launch
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin hold a joint press conference in Seoul, South Korea on Nov. 9, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Jung Yeon-je
On Nov. 24, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a trilateral call with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japan Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko from their respective offices. According to US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, the officials spoke about the recent spy satellite launched by North Korea and “strongly condemned the launch for its destabilizing effect on the region.”
North Korea and the US have had a struggling relationship for decades. Since its development of nuclear weapons, North Korea has been subject to international sanctions led by the US. In more recent years, the US strengthened its ties with its allies in the Indo-Pacific to contain North Korean threats, notably South Korea and Japan, and has attempted to bolster their militaries.
One week before the call, on Nov. 17, the Pentagon announced that the US Department of State had signed off on the estimated $2.35 billion deal to Japan for 400 Tomahawk missiles and various pieces of military equipment and software. If enforced, the deal would lead to Japan’s most significant military build-up since World War II. According to the US Defense Department, the proposed deal will support American foreign policy interests in East Asia.
This announcement from the Pentagon stirred criticism from North Korea. North Korean state media called the deal “a dangerous act that raises tension in the region and brings a new arms race.” On Nov. 21, as a response to the US and South Korea, North Korea launched a spy satellite with Russian assistance. DPRK state media subsequently claimed to have succeeded in putting the satellite into orbit.
North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un visits Pyongyang General Control Center of the North Korean National Aerospace Technology Administration. Photo: Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
In the most recent UN Security Council meeting on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs, North Korean and US envoys were engaged in rounds of arguments accusing each other of being an aggressor. Kim Song, the North Korean ambassador to the UN, claimed that "one belligerent party, the United States, is threatening us with a nuclear weapon."
According to Kim, "It is a legitimate right for the DPRK to develop, test, manufacture and possess weapons systems equivalent to those that the United States already possesses and, or (are) developing right now."
In response, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield asserted that the US "rejects strongly the disingenuous DPRK claim that its missile launches are merely defensive in nature, in response to our bilateral and trilateral military exercises." Moreover, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield stressed that the U.S. exercises were routine, defensive and announced in advance.
On Nov. 27, North Korea claimed that its new satellite had taken photos of the White House, Pentagon, and naval bases. The aftermath of the North Korean satellite launch is still being panned out. However, analysts point out that the new satellite will add to military tensions on the Korean peninsula and highlight the ineffectiveness of international sanctions on North Korea.