The article said:

The Korean Committee for Space Technology in a statement of its spokesman on March 16 announced that the DPRK will launch a working satellite, Kwangmyongsong-3, manufactured by itself with indigenous technology to mark the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung. It also said the satellite will be blasted off from the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Cholsan County, North Phyongan Province between April 12 and 16.

The announcement immediately caught the world attention.

Hankuk Ilbo said the north informed the U.S. State Department of the plan of the announcement of the satellite launch before releasing it.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department in a regular briefing on March 16 admitted the earlier contact between the DPRK and the U.S., saying that the New York channel went operational in the later hours on March 15 and the U.S. obviously conveyed the meaning of the satellite launch.

The north side is of the stand that the planned launch is not contrary to the North-U.S. agreement.

Choson Sinbo, a Tokyo-based newspaper run by Koreans in Japan, said:

According to the DPRK's plan, it is inevitable for it to launch earth observation satellite, a working satellite that would contribute to the economic development of the country, to mark the Day of the Sun in 2012 as the next stage of an experimental communications satellite that was launched in 2009. It was clear that the satellite launch plan had been promoted from years ago. It is the north's stand that moratorium on long-range missile launch and the satellite launch are separate issues.

Conventional Satellite: Equipment Essential for the DPRK's Economy

Han Ho Sok, director of the Institute of Reunification, in an article titled "'Kwangmyongsong-3' is a satellite with transparency" quoted a statement of a spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology on February 24, 2009 as saying, "Under the long-term national plan for space development, we look forward to launching working satellites for communications, resources prospecting, weather forecast, etc. crucial for the economic development of the country in years to come in the first phase and normalizing their operations."

Chosun Sinbo on March 16, 2012 said that "Kwangmyongsong-3" to be launched by the north is a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite.

The weather satellite is urgently needed for getting awakened of the approach of summer typhoon and getting prepared for regional precipitation and torrential downpour. In particular, the weather information based on close photographing is essential to the north which made the increase of agricultural production a priority of the state.

Lately the Korean Peninsula has suffered from flood owing to the torrential downpour in summer. The north has suffered from flood every year. It is true that this reduced the agricultural output and adversely affected various fields of the north's economy.

The north authorities will naturally seek to get rich analysis of the images of approaching weather in the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula to increase the accuracy of the weather forecast.

Political Advantage of DPRK's Launch of Working Satellite

As the DPRK is expected to start launching a working satellite, now is the time to consider the effectiveness of not only a rocket but a satellite. As a matter of fact, from the viewpoint of the DPRK, the system for putting a satellite into space made its debut in 2009 but what is noteworthy of the forthcoming launch is that a working satellite will be launched.

If Kwangmyongsong-3 which the DPRK is supposed to launch is a polar-orbiting meteorological satellite, it is the one for peaceful purposes. To acquire systematic weather information to protect agriculture and key industries from typhoon, torrential rain and draught is a work for a peaceful purpose for improving the living standard of the people in the DPRK. It, therefore, may not result in disturbing the stability in Northeast Asia but contributing to its peace and prosperity.

It is not persuasive to claim that the north does not require a meteorological satellite though it must be in the south for stabilizing the people's life. As is the case with the south, the U.S. and Japan, the people in the north should do farming, catch fishes in seas and there is no other option for them to sensitively react to the weather conditions.

If the projected launch of Kwangmyongsong-3 is a meteorological satellite as it was mentioned by the north in 2009, this will help the people in the north to escape from flood disasters and obtain systematic information about precipitation and thus increase agricultural production.