The communist propaganda outlet of North Korea claimed that an alleged surveillance satellite had taken photos of the White House.
The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the flagship media network of the communist North Korean regime, reported that dictator Kim Jong-un spent much of his day on Tuesday perusing a report on the “Malligyong-1” surveillance satellite, whose launch prompted stern condemnations from South Korea, America, and the United Nations. The satellite reportedly took photos of several sites in the United States and abroad.
“The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un saw the satellite photos of Rome of Italy taken at 17:56:28 on Nov. 25 (Pyongyang Time) and Anderson Air Force Base taken above Guam in the Pacific at 09:17:07 on Nov. 27 (Pyongyang Time) and pilot satellite images of other regions,” KCNA claimed.
In the U.S. mainland, Kim reportedly saw photos “in detail” of “the Norfolk Naval Station, the Newport News Dockyard and an airfield of Virginia, U.S., taken at 23:35:53 on Nov. 27 and the White House and the Pentagon of Washington and other objects at 23:36:25 on Nov. 27.” In an apparent attempt to verify that the photos exist, KCNA claimed that “four U.S. Navy nuclear carriers and one British aircraft carrier” were in the photos.
Kim expressed “great satisfaction” with the project, the propaganda network claimed.
North Korea notably did not publish any of the images and made dubious claims surrounding the functionality of the spy satellite almost immediately after South Korean officials confirmed its launch. Pyongyang claimed that it had photos of American military facilities in Guam less than 24 hours after the rocket carrying the satellite launched, a declaration South Korean officials dismissed as an “exaggeration.
