The Dear Leader of North Korea and his top lackey’s felt very ashamed after his latest attempt to get that spy satellite into orbit. Falling rapidly back to earth, their hopes and dreams of a trifecta of spy satellites were now short of having any chance of happening. Yet they are undeterred. Instead, they have given public and harsh criticism of those they have deemed responsible for the failure.
From 15-18 June, Kim and other top officials met and made plans to fix things within the ruling party and to get their spy program underway. From leaked intel, this satellite would have made spying on South Korea and the US easier than it has been in years past. With Kim’s increasing hostility and aggressive saber rattling, this is a problem that goes much deeper than either side is willing to correct.
Korean Central News Agency relayed a dispatch to the rest of the world that detailed the meeting as coming down hard on the officials who are responsible for the failed launch. Yet they failed to clearly articulate who was speaking or how harsh the punishment would be. Given the track record in the nation, death is not outside the realm of possibility.
According to other comments by KCNA, the report also set out a list of tasks that officials and scientists must follow to ensure they learned from Kim not getting this into orbit.
While KCNA nor North Korea have announced when the next attempt would occur, South Korean spy agencies are reporting it will be a minimum of several weeks for them to even discover what went wrong on the launch, if they even can. This also might explain who North Korean watchdog groups have yet to report deaths as a result of this embarrassment.
Despite orchestrating a massive number of high-profile executions when he first took office, Kim has been treating the remaining scientists and others involved in his projects very well. Realizing that they are more effective with proper support and motivation, he has given them a cushy life.
Considering what this spy satellite could potentially do for Kim along the way, it’s no wonder he is doing everything he can to get it in the air. It has tremendous implications for his ability to know what might be coming for him, as well as what kind of movements and weaknesses are identified and targeted.
Add this together with the 100+ missile tests since the start of 2022, and it becomes a very scary predicament. This included their first-ever solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile test back in April. This launch went perfectly, and it’s incredibly well done for such a tiny hermit nation. It serves to make his military more portable and less easy to discover before they can lunch their missiles at their targets.
As Kim looks to increase the power his name carries in the region, he has also become far less mentally stable and predictable. This wild card status is concerning to military experts across the globe, with South Korea and Japan being incredibly cautious in their interactions. North Korea’s Politburo members have been discussing what North Korea will do with the hundreds of missiles and rockets that they have developed.
With the government keeping a “frontal confrontation” policy, they aren’t playing games. This kind of attack first and be deadly mindset is the kind that ensures they would do their best to keep the action out of their country and away from their already impoverished and desolate people. Given how very little they have, it wouldn’t take much to break the “pro-Kim” spirit in the North Koreans and drive them away from his regime.
This scares Kim and has kept him on his toes since he took over for his father. He keeps them isolated and keeps the propaganda machine behind the Kim dynasty being the secret to North Korea is “the best” despite the rest of the globe knowing what a dumpster fire they have created.
