Kim Jong Un and daughter inspect North Korean military spy satellite

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter were pictured examining a military spy satellite which the country is expected to launch soon.

The leader visited an aerospace facility where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the US and South Korea.

During his visit, Kim approved an unspecified “future action plan” in preparations for launching the satellite, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim and his daughter Kim Ju Ae, who is thought to be aged about nine years old, were seen dressed in white lab coats talking to scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite in images released by the country’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper.

The newspaper did not identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape.

Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim has vowed to develop.

Last month, the leader said construction of the satellite was completed and gave it the go-ahead for its launch.

KCNA said it was deemed ready to be loaded onto a rocket after scientists put it through tests to confirm whether it would withstand the environment of space.

North Korea has not disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks.

That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past UN Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rockets tests have demonstrated North Korea’s ability to deliver a satellite into space.

But some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery.

South Korea said a North Korean satellite launch would violate various UN Security Council resolutions banning the North from any launches involving ballistic technologies and “threaten regional peace and stability”.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster defence as “US imperialists and (South) Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves” against the North, KCNA said.

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He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the US and South Korea.

North Korea placed its first and second Earth observation satellites into orbit in 2012 and 2016, but foreign experts say neither transmitted imagery back to North Korea.

The UN Security Council issued sanctions over those launches.

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