AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE,
Seoul: Communist North Korea accused South Korea on Tuesday of launching a satellite to spy on it and called the move a “grave provocative act.” “This is a grave provocative act of straining the regional situation,” a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland was quoted as saying by the North's official Korea Central News Agency.
The Arirang-2 satellite launched last Friday is “equipped with high-resolution image cameras capable of discerning anything up to one meter size on the ground,” the spokesman added.
“The United States is conniving at and defending the launches of missiles and spy satellites by its allies and forces toeing its line, while unreasonably taking issue with the right thing done by the DPRK…”
The Arirang 2 satellite, launched in northern Russia, will help the South update geographical changes and assist in the search for natural resources, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.
The North attracted censure and weapons-related sanctions from the United Nations Security Council after test-firing seven missiles on July 5 in defiance of international warnings.
The South's “sunshine policy” of seeking rapprochement with the North was strained by the tests and the North's earlier refusal to return to talks aimed at curbing its nuclear programme.
On Monday there was a brief exchange of gunfire between troops of the South and North on the heavily fortified border but no casualties were reported, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
