PYONGYANG has shifted the transmission of its state TV broadcasts from a Chinese satellite to a Russian one, South Korea’s unification ministry said, causing service disruptions in the South.
The move comes as Russia and the North draw ever closer, with Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting leader Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang last month and signing a “breakthrough” deal, including a pledge to come to each other’s military aid if attacked.
“North Korea has stopped using the previous Chinese satellite and is now broadcasting through a Russian satellite,” Seoul’s unification ministry said in a statement yesterday.
The move “has resulted in limited satellite broadcast reception in some of our regions”, it added.
While the South Korean public is legally banned from accessing Pyongyang state media, Seoul authorities and media outlets need satellite service to monitor the broadcasts, where the North makes major announcements and shares government propaganda.
The United States and its allies have accused North Korea of providing ammunition and missiles to Russia for its war in Ukraine, and the recent Kim-Putin summit has fuelled concerns about more deliveries.
Following Putin and Kim’s agreement in Pyongyang, South Korea, a major weapons exporter, has said it will “reconsider” a long-standing policy that bars it from supplying arms directly to Kyiv.
North Korea put its first spy satellite into orbit late last year, after receiving technical help from Russia, Seoul claims, in return for sending arms to Moscow for use in Ukraine.
Experts said the shift to using a Russian satellite could be an experiment, as the North looks to ramp up its homegrown space capabilities.
It could be “a step towards developing a commercial satellite with the help of Russian technology in the future”, said Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul. — AFP
