N. Korea defends military spy satellite as 'indispensable strategic option'

This photo, provided by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, shows the launch of the North's new "Chollima-1" rocket, allegedly carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1," from Tongchang-ri on the North's west coast, June 1. Yonhap

A North Korean official on Tuesday called the country's military spy satellite an "indispensable strategic option" to counter the United States, which is "getting hell-bent on space militarization."

Following two botched attempts to launch the military spy satellite, named the Malligyong-1, mounted on the Chollima-1 rocket in May and August, North Korea has announced plans for a third attempt in October without specifying a specific launch date.

"The space development including military reconnaissance satellite is an indispensable strategic option for guaranteeing the security interests and right to existence of the DPRK," Ri Song-jin, a researcher of the North's National Aerospace Technology Administration, said in an English article carried by the country's official Korean Central News Agency.

DPRK refers to the acronym of the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Ri said North Korea will strengthen its "self-defensive capabilities" amid what the official called the "ever-escalating military threat and aggression scheme of the U.S. and its vassal forces in all areas including space."

A military spy satellite is among the high-tech weapons that the North has vowed to develop, which also include solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and a nuclear-powered submarine. (Yonhap)