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we'll talk to
Ahn Jung-sik, a reporter specializing in North Korea.

Q. Tell us about what's come out so far.

[Reporter Ahn Jung-sik: The Japanese government that you just mentioned is likely to be a ballistic missile, isn't this also early information? First of all, it appears that North Korea launched a reconnaissance satellite. It seems that they launched a reconnaissance satellite because they set a period for launching a reconnaissance satellite from Monday, but since the reconnaissance satellite itself flies on a ballistic missile trajectory, I think Japan said that it could be a ballistic missile. It was about half past six o'clock when the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea had launched a space launch vehicle a little while ago this morning. And now it's been about 40 minutes. If it's been about 40 minutes, North Korea has already launched a military reconnaissance satellite as predicted. The first stage propellant fairing and the second stage propellant are separated, and now it remains to be seen whether this has succeeded or failed, but if it is actually a reconnaissance satellite, it is almost in the final stage of entering the reconnaissance satellite. In terms of time, I think we can make that estimate.]

Q. You said you were going to shoot in June, but is there any background to moving it to today?

[Reporter Ahn Jung-sik: Now, I was in a hurry to get out of the house this morning, and when I came out of that part, I thought about it, and I think it was another trick. So the period that North Korea originally notified the Japan Sea Security Agency was the 31st, today. It was from 0:00 today to 0:00 on June 11th, but yesterday, yesterday, the day after the Japan Sea Security Agency was notified, Ri Pyong-ch'ol, chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, told the Korean Central News Agency that it was a June launch. So, if it is a June launch, isn't it excluded today? So I thought it would be tomorrow, not today, but it was shot on the first day. I think we should look at it this way, so that the U.S. and South Korean surveillance authorities relaxed a little bit, relaxed their surveillance posture, and then they shot at the gap.]

Q. Can you guess the possibility that there was a projectile inside the mobile assembly building?

So, if you look at the results now, yesterday, the Voice of America said that a mobile assembly building was attached to the launch pad based on satellite imagery two days ago, and this was exactly what we saw, and there was a rocket inside the mobile assembly building. So I think we should say that the rocket was mounted on the launch pad, and the reconnaissance satellite that was equipped with it was launched today. Speaking of which, just before North Korea notified the Japan Sea Security Agency of the launch period from today to June 11, it was almost ready for the launch and went through the final notification process. And after the notification process, After carrying out this deception through Ri Byung-ch'ol, which clouded the intelligence judgment of some of the outside ROK-US-Japan surveillance agencies, the ROK-US-Japan intelligence agencies, they carried out the launch today.

Q. Is there a possibility that additional launches will follow?

[Ahn Jung-sik: The fact that this is a reconnaissance satellite is what North Korea is trying to get through reconnaissance satellites is that in the past, we interpreted it this way: North Korea wants to acquire ballistic missile technology through reconnaissance satellites. Because the technology of launching reconnaissance satellites, satellites on long-range rockets, is almost similar to ICBM technology. So, in order to get ICBM technology, we used to shoot long-range rockets, but that interpretation doesn't fit very well these days. That's a bit of an old-fashioned interpretation, because North Korea has already launched ICBMs several times and doesn't have a lot of ICBMs, right? That's why North Korea has developed ICBM technology It's a bit of a misinterpretation to shoot a satellite just to get it, and it's a reconnaissance satellite, that is, North Korea is shooting a reconnaissance satellite with the idea that they want to have information about how South Korea, the United States, and Japan are doing, but then the satellite is constantly circling the earth, so there is a limit to surveillance with one satellite. So in the future, North Korea has an appetite to continue shooting reconnaissance satellites if it is capable. So I don't know if we're going to shoot the reconnaissance satellite right away or if we're going to find more other means of reconnaissance, but I think we're going to have to say that we're going to continue trying to get additional reconnaissance means.]

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I think there will be more information about the detailed specifications of this launch vehicle and the flight range as soon as it is analyzed, but please keep us updated as soon as it is announced.