There can be no specified country in this respect and such thing should not be tolerated. Rodong Sinmun today says this in a signed commentary. It goes on:

The space development has been a monopoly of the developed countries in the past. But it is quite different in the present times when the international environment has changed and the world entered the age of information industry.

As the world today shows, developing countries as well as developed ones are actively exploring the area of space development, accelerating the scientific and technological development.

The space development has become an irresistible international trend and entered a new phase of development.

What is important here is that the space development should strictly serve a peaceful purpose and be favorable for international security and the development of human civilization.

But what should not be overlooked is that the undesirable forces are getting evermore undisguised in their moves to use the space for a military purpose in order to achieve their criminal aims. The U.S. is conducting what it called exercises of shooting down satellites, putting spurs to the building of missile shields in a bid to establish a military monopoly on the space and realize its wild ambition for world domination.

Japan is hell-bent on the criminal moves to use the space for its military purpose as evidenced by its launch of spy satellites and the enaction of the "basic law on space", etc., pursuant to the U.S. policy for space militarization.

The reality requires the world peace-loving people to check the dangerous space militarization and push forward the space development for a peaceful purpose. This is the principled stand of the DPRK.

The DPRK has consistently maintained the stand on the peaceful space research and development, regardless of what others claimed.

The DPRK will go ahead in the direction chosen by itself, swimming with the trend of the development of the times when the world is heading for peaceful space exploration.