Press Statement by Spokesman for DPRK Ministry of National Defence

Pyongyang, December 2 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defence of the DPRK released the following press statement "Any attack on space asset of the DPRK will be deemed declaration of war against it" on Saturday:

The brigandish nature of the U.S., which regards it as its main lever for realizing its hegemonic wild ambition to commit outrageous and unlawful military intervention against sovereign countries, has been brought to light more clearly, occasioned by the DPRK's reconnaissance satellite launch.

An official concerned of the U.S. Space Command recently spouted rubbish hinting at a military attack on the DPRK's reconnaissance satellite, saying that the U.S. can decrease the enemy country's outer space operation capabilities by employing diverse "reversible and irreversible methods".

American military affairs experts comment that the U.S. Space Force can physically destroy not only opponent's satellite and satellite earth station but also get rid of enemy state's space force through jamming and virus-using cyber attack.

The U.S. Space Force's deplorable hostility toward the DPRK's reconnaissance satellite can never be overlooked as it is just a challenge to the sovereignty of the DPRK, and more exactly, a declaration war against it.

Article 8 of the "Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies", the main international outer space treaty, stipulates that any object launched into outer space definitely falls under the jurisdiction of the launcher state and the ownership of it never changes no matter it remains in outer space or returned to the earth.

This means that the reconnaissance satellite "Malligyong-1" is a part of the territory of the DPRK where its sovereignty is exercised.

Furthermore, reconnaissance satellite is not regarded as a space weapon by international law for its technical features aimed at observation.

If the reconnaissance satellite of the DPRK is regarded by the U.S. as a "military threat" that must be gotten rid of, countless spy satellites of the U.S. flying above the Korean peninsula region every day, exclusively tasked with monitoring the major strategic spots of the DPRK, should be deemed the primary targets to be destroyed by the armed forces of the DPRK.

By openly unveiling its aggression scheme to mount a military attack on a space asset of other sovereign country, a part of its properties and territory, the U.S. has proved itself its true colors as the chief culprit of evils seeking to realize its wild ambition for dominating the world by turning outer space, common wealth of humankind, into a theater of war.

It is the mission of the armed forces of the DPRK, specified by its constitution and other laws, to exercise their war deterrent to protect the state sovereignty and territorial integrity in case a lethal military attack is carried out against the country's strategic assets or it is judged that such attack is imminent.

In case the U.S. tries to violate the legitimate territory of a sovereign state by weaponizing the latest technologies illegally and unjustly, the DPRK will consider taking responsive action measures for self-defence to undermine or destroy the viability of the U.S. spy satellites by exercising its legitimate rights vested by international and domestic laws. -0-
www.kcna.kp (Juche112.12.2.)

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