(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- North Korea claimed Wednesday it successfully launched a military reconnaissance satellite a day earlier, and vowed to conduct more launches "in a short span of time," according to state media.
The National Aerospace Technology Administration fired the reconnaissance satellite "Malligyong-1" on the new-type carrier rocket "Chollima-1"from a launch site in North Phyongan Province at 10:42 p.m. (1342 GMT) Tuesday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The carrier rocket flew normally along the preset flight track and accurately put the reconnaissance satellite on its orbit at 10:54 p.m., 705 seconds (12 minutes) after the launch, the report said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch on the spot, and warmly congratulated all the cadres, scientists and technicians of the administration and relevant institutions, the KCNA said.
Pyongyang also insisted that the satellite launch is its "legitimate" right to strengthen "self-defensive capabilities," adding that "it will make a significant contribution to definitely ramping up the war preparedness of the armed forces of the Republic."
The administration plans to present to the Workers' Party a plan to launch several more reconnaissance satellites "in a short span of time" to secure the capability to reconnoiter South Korea, the KCNA added.
Tuesday's launch came after the North notified the Japan Coast Guard of a plan to launch a "satellite" sometime between Wednesday and Nov. 30. It is he North's third attempt to launch what it claims is a military reconnaissance satellite after two failed attempts in May and August. (end)
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