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Seoul to prevent Pyongyang from acquiring satellite parts, materials
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, fourth from left, celebrates the claimed completion of its first-ever military reconnaissance satellite at the North's National Aerospace Development Administration, April 18. Korea Times file
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
The government has added 77 parts and devices needed for satellite manufacturing to a list of goods banned from being exported to North Korea, in what Seoul hopes will be the first international effort to deter Pyongyang's spy satellite development plans, the trade ministry said Tuesday.
Among them are solar panels, gyroscopes, antennae, global positioning systems and image sensors for cameras.
The revised list is set to take effect next month and serve as a warning to the international community against selling space launch vehicle parts to the North, hopefully hindering the reclusive regime's missile development program, the ministry said.
Prompting the latest move by South Korea is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's announcement on April 18 of the completed development of the North's first-ever military reconnaissance satellite by the National Aerospace Development Administration.
The previous list had 89 items related to advancing North Korea's nuclear ambitions, followed by submarine projects (60) and missile programs (41). The ministry plans to share the revised list with South Korea's allies.
“We seek to raise caution with not only the international community, but also local parts and device manufacturers about the risk of their products ending up in the North through a third-party trade,” a ministry official said. “Violations of the order will lead to punishment.”
The ministry's move is underpinned by sanctions outlined by the United Nations Security Council established pursuant to resolution 1718.
Under the arms and related materiel embargo measures, “All Member States are required to apply a 'catch-all' clause on the supply, sale or transfer of any item if it determines that such an item could directly contribute to the development of the DPRK's operational capabilities of its armed forces, or to exports that support/enhance the capabilities of armed forces of another Member State outside the DPRK.”
DPRK is short for Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
North Korea maintains that it is entitled to space launch vehicle development programs as a valid member of the U.N. Outer Space Treaty. However, the international community has clamped down on such attempts by the North, since space launch vehicles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) essentially use the same technology.
The U.N. multilateral treaty forms the basis of international space law. It is formally known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
Some observers said the North might launch a military reconnaissance satellite around Wednesday on the occasion of the Korea-U.S. summit in Washington D.C.