“Conquering space is… a fierce class struggle against the hostile forces seeking to usurp our peace and sovereignty”, Kim was quoted as saying at a Wednesday awards ceremony for those involved in this month’s rocket launch.
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And it was there he announced he wanted the country’s “space conquerers” to launch even more satellites in the future.
“The advance toward space…is the DPRK’s (North Korea’s) strategic goal”, he said.
North Korea’s defiant pursuit of nuclear weapons has pulled China “deeper into the mire”, a newspaper published by China’s ruling Communist Party said Saturday, as Beijing is under pressure to do more to curb Pyongyang’s aggression.
Neighbors and the United States called it a missile test. China, a longtime sponsor of Pyongyang, has expressed concerns about measures that it worries could debilitate North Korea’s economy.
North Korea also labeled as “laughable” Washington’s new sanctions against Pyongyang, which were signed into law by President Barack Obama on Thursday and are aimed at denying the North the money to develop miniaturized warheads and the long-range missiles required to deliver them.
The legislation also authorises $50 million over the next five years to transmit radio broadcasts into North Korea, purchase communications equipment and support humanitarian assistance programmes.
The two Koreas are in a tense political standoff after the North’s nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch on February 7.
The steps approved included the ban on entry of all North Korean-registered ships into Japan and of third-country ships from entering Japan after visiting ports in North Korea.
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South Korea closed down the inter-Korean industrial zone in the North Korean border city of Kaesong earlier this month in response to the North’s moves.
