< Anchor informed Japan >

North Korea will launch a satellite within ten days, from tomorrow (22nd) to the 1st of next month. They are going to put up a military reconnaissance satellite that has failed to launch twice. It was shot on the first day of the first and second rounds, so tomorrow is the most likely time, but the weather is a variable.

This is a report by Kim Tae-hoon, a defense reporter.

<Reporter>

North Korea has informed the Japan Coast Guard that it plans to launch a satellite between 2:1 tomorrow and the 2st of next month, NHK and other Japanese media reported.

The Japan Coast Guard has identified two locations in the West Sea southwest of North Korea and one in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines as places of concern.

Our military predicted this week and issued a warning statement yesterday, but North Korea is going ahead with the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite.

In the first and second failed launches of reconnaissance satellites, North Korea notified the Japan Coast Guard in advance of the launch period, and each time it was launched on the first day of the scheduled date.

Again, there is a high possibility that the launch will take place tomorrow, the first day of the scheduled date, but the weather tomorrow in the Tongchang-ri area of North Pyongan Province, where the launch site is located, is forecast to be unfavorable for the launch.

There is also the possibility of launching the day after the rain stops.

[Jeon Ha-kyu/Spokesperson: I think we should also look at the weather situation, so maybe North Korea is also watching the weather, and maybe they will launch it at an available time and date...]

If North Korea launches a reconnaissance satellite, our government is expected to launch a war by suspending part of the September 0 North-South military agreement.

In particular, the ROK Government believes that the immediate implementation of aerial surveillance of the border area, which is prohibited by the September 1 Agreement, will have a great effect on putting pressure on North Korea.

U.S. and South Korean military authorities have stepped up surveillance and reconnaissance against North Korea, and the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Carl Vinson arrived in Busan today.

It is known that the United States and South Korea will conduct a large-scale joint drill with Carl Vinson in the wake of the launch of a North Korean reconnaissance satellite.

(Video interview: Hwang In-seok, Video editing: Jung Sung-hoon)