DPRK’s Spy Satellite Launch Raises Tension on the Korean Peninsula

North Korea’s launch of reconnaissance satellite and follow-up acts unfolded like a well-orchestrated blitzkrieg. On Nov. 21, North Korea notified the Japanese Coast Guard that it would launch the spy satellite between Nov. 22 and Dec. 1 and designated three expected zones of falling debris. However, it launched the satellite by surprise on the night of Nov. 21, thus proving that the regime does not care about the safety of ships navigating the expected debris-falling zones. On the next day, Pyongyang announced the “successful launch of the new rocket Chollima-1 carrying the reconnaissance satellite Manrikyong-1.” Obviously, by the provocative surprise launch, North Korea once again ridiculed the UN Security Council Resolutions 1874 and 2087 which prohibit all launches by the DPRK using ballistic missile technology, and violated the Inter-Korean Military Agreement of September 19, 2018, in which the two Koreas promised to “cease all hostile acts in all domains including land, sea, and air” by 2018....