South Korea Confirms First Spy Satellite in Orbit

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket minutes before the launch of the Korea 425 Mission. SPACEX/AFP
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket minutes before the launch of the Korea 425 Mission. SPACEX/AFP
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South Korea Confirms First Spy Satellite in Orbit

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket minutes before the launch of the Korea 425 Mission. SPACEX/AFP
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket minutes before the launch of the Korea 425 Mission. SPACEX/AFP

South Korea confirmed Saturday its first military spy satellite had reached orbit after a successful SpaceX rocket launch and that communication was established with ground control.
Seoul's reconnaissance satellite, carried by one of Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, intensifies a space race on the Korean peninsula after the North launched its own first military eye in the sky last week.
South Korea's defense ministry said Saturday its satellite reached orbit soon after the "KOREA"-emblazoned SpaceX rocket lifted off from the Vandenberg US Space Force Base in California at 10:19 am local time (1819 GMT) Friday.
"The satellite was launched 0319 Seoul time and was successfully separated from the projectile 11 minutes later and put into a targeted orbital trajectory," the ministry said in a statement.
"We have confirmed its communications with the ground command."
Reaching orbit means that South Korea now has its first domestically built spy satellite to monitor nuclear-armed North Korea.
Seoul plans to launch four additional spy satellites by the end of 2025 to bolster its reconnaissance capacity over the North.
Set to orbit between 400 and 600 kilometers (250 to 370 miles) above Earth, the South's satellite is capable of detecting an object as small as 30 centimeters (11.8 inches), according to the Yonhap news agency.
"Considering resolution and its capacity for Earth observation... our satellite technology ranks in the top five globally," a defense ministry official said, as quoted by Yonhap.
The launch comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang successfully put its own spy satellite into orbit.
"Until now, South Korea has relied heavily on US-run spy satellites" when it comes to monitoring the North, Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University, told AFP.
While the South has "succeeded in the launch of a military communications satellite, it has taken much longer for a reconnaissance satellite due to higher technological hurdles", he said.
Following the North's successful launch of its spy satellite, Choi said, "the South Korean government needs to demonstrate it can also pull this off".
'Destroy' US spy satellites
The nuclear-armed North's launch drew international condemnation which the North Korean leader's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, called "absurd", declaring that her country would never relinquish its space program.
North Korea is barred by successive rounds of UN resolutions from tests using ballistic technology, and analysts say there is significant technological overlap between space launch capabilities and the development of ballistic missiles.
On Saturday, Pyongyang threatened to "destroy" US spy satellites if Washington "tries to violate the legitimate territory" of North Korea, referring to its satellite program.
If the United States attempts to breach its space rights "by weaponizing the latest technologies illegally and unjustly", said a spokesperson of the North's defense ministry in a statement carried by state-run KCNA, "the DPRK will consider taking responsive action measures for self-defense to undermine or destroy the viability of the US spy satellites".
Experts have said putting a working reconnaissance satellite into orbit would improve North Korea's intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict.
Since last week's launch, the North has claimed its new satellite has already provided images of major US and South Korean military sites.
It has not yet disclosed any of the satellite imagery it claims to possess.
The North's launch of "Malligyong-1" was Pyongyang's third attempt at putting such a satellite in orbit, after two failures in May and August.
Seoul has said the North received technical help from Moscow, in return for supplying weapons for use in Russia's war with Ukraine.



Emboldened by Trump, Iranian Dissidents Demand Overthrow of Rulers

Supporters of Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gather to protest against the nuclear program and the detention of EU nationals as tensions escalate between France and Iran, in Paris, France, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Supporters of Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gather to protest against the nuclear program and the detention of EU nationals as tensions escalate between France and Iran, in Paris, France, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Emboldened by Trump, Iranian Dissidents Demand Overthrow of Rulers

Supporters of Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gather to protest against the nuclear program and the detention of EU nationals as tensions escalate between France and Iran, in Paris, France, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)
Supporters of Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) gather to protest against the nuclear program and the detention of EU nationals as tensions escalate between France and Iran, in Paris, France, February 8, 2025. (Reuters)

Thousands of opponents to Iran's authorities rallied in Paris on Saturday, joined by Ukrainians to call for the fall of the government in Tehran, hopeful that US President Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" campaign could lead to change in the country.

The protest, organized by the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is banned in Iran, comes as two of the group's members face imminent execution with a further six sentenced to death in November.

"We say your demise has arrived. With or without negotiations, with or without nuclear weapons, uprising and overthrow await you," NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi said in a speech.

People from across Europe, often bussed in for the event, waved Iranian flags and chanted anti-government slogans amid images deriding Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Hundreds of Ukrainians accusing Iran of backing Russian President Vladimir Putin in the war against Ukraine joined the protest.

Iryna Serdiuk, 37, a nurse turned interpreter originally from the embattled Donbass region, and now exiled in Germany, said she had come to Paris to join forces against a common enemy.

"I'm happy to see these Iranians because they are opposition. They support Ukraine and not the Iranian government which gives Russia weapons. We are together and one day it will be victory for Ukraine and Iran too," she said.

The NCRI, also known by its Persian name Mujahideen-e-Khalq, was once listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union until 2012.

SUPPORT INSIDE IRAN

While its critics question its support inside Iran and how it operates, it remains one of the few opposition groups able to rally supporters.

Mohammad Sabetraftar, 63, an Iranian who has been in exile for 40 years and now runs a taxi business in the United Kingdom, dismissed criticism of the NCRI saying that it was the only alternative capable of achieving democracy in Iran.

"What we expect from Mr. Trump or any Western politician is to not support this government. We don't need money, we don't need weapons, we rely on the people. No ties with the regime, no connections and put as much pressure on this government."

Tehran has long called for a crackdown on the NCRI in Paris and Washington. The group is regularly criticized in state media.

In January, Trump's Ukraine envoy spoke at a conference organized by the group in Paris.

At the time he outlined the president's plan to return to a policy of maximum pressure on Iran that sought to wreck its economy, forcing the country to negotiate a deal on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and regional activities.

Homa Sabetraftar, 16, a schoolgirl in Britain, said she felt it was her duty to come to the event to represent the youth of Iran.

"Some people in Iran don't have that voice and aren't able to vocalize as freely as we are able to here," she said. "We need to push for a better future."