North Korea announced that it tested cameras for a spy satellite after its neighbours detected a new ballistic missile launch. It said the test involved cameras for a survey satellite conducting vertical and oblique photography of a specific area of Earth. A spy satellite is among an array of sophisticated weapons systems that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed last year to develop under military modernisation plans to cope with what he called hostile US policies toward his country.

Launching a satellite into orbit needs a long-range rocket launch. Still, the United Nations has banned North Korea from such launches since both ballistic missiles and the rockets used for satellite launches share the same bodies, engines and other technologies. Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said the missile flew about 300 kilometres at a maximum altitude of approximately 600 kilometres before landing on North Korea’s eastern coast.