Lil Kim has his share of toys, war toys, from rockets, missiles, nukes and now a eye in the sky.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a finished military spy satellite, which his country is expected to launch soon, during a visit to his country’s aerospace agency, where he described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for countering the US and South Korea. As the AP reports, Kim during Tuesday’s visit approved an unspecified “future action plan” in preparations for launching the satellite, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday. North Korea hasn’t disclosed a target date for the launch, which some analysts say may be in the next few weeks. That launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past UN Security Council resolutions, although previous missile and rocket tests have demonstrated North Korea’s ability to deliver a satellite into space.

There are more questions, however, about the satellite’s capability. Some South Korean analysts say the satellite shown in North Korean state media photos appears too small and crudely designed to support high-resolution imagery. Photos that North Korean media released from past missile launches were low resolution. Photos released by the Rodong Sinmun newspaper of Tuesday’s visit showed Kim and his daughter—dressed in white lab coats—talking with scientists near an object that looked like the main component of a satellite. The newspaper didn’t identify the object, which was surrounded by a perimeter of red tape. The visit was Kim’s first public appearance in about a month, following a previous visit to the aerospace center on April 18.

Kim said acquiring a spy satellite would be crucial for his efforts to bolster the country’s defense as “US imperialists and [South] Korean puppet villains escalate their confrontational moves” against the North, the KCNA said. He was apparently referring to the expansion of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea and the allies’ discussions on strengthening their nuclear deterrence strategies to cope with threats from North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022. The next step in North Korea’s launch preparations, or the “future action plan” state media mentioned, could be installing the satellite on what would likely be a three-stage space rocket, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.

The launch could be conducted as early as mid-June, although Pyongyang might also time the event to major state anniversaries that fall in July, September, or October, the professor said. Spy satellites are among a slew of advanced weapons systems Kim Jong Un has vowed to develop. Others on his wish list include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles, nuclear-powered submarines, hypersonic missiles, and multiwarhead missiles. North Korea has tested some of those weapons in recent months, including its first test flight of a solid-fuel ICBM last month, but experts say the North may need more time and technological breakthroughs to make those systems functional. In response to North Korea’s military spy satellite, Japan’s military last month ordered troops to activate missile interceptors and get ready to shoot down fragments from the satellite that may fall on the Japanese territory.

Kim keeps expanding his capabilities and eventually the US will have to come to terms with that….but right now China is the mind filling stuff the Pentagon has to deal with….for now.

How far will this go?

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