Kim Jong Un reviews satellite photos of US bases in Hawaii, S Korea

SEOUL: North Korean state media said Saturday that leader Kim Jong Un has reviewed images taken by his country’s new spy satellite of “major target regions” including the US military base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and sites across South Korea.

Pyongyang successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit earlier this week, but South Korea said it was too early to determine if the satellite was functioning as the North claims. Experts have said putting a working reconnaissance satellite into orbit would improve North Korea’s intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict.

Pyongyang previously claimed, within hours of the Tuesday launch, that Kim was shown photos of US military bases in Guam taken by the satellite, named “Malligyong-1”. On Saturday, the North claimed Kim inspected images taken as the satellite passed over Hawaii at around 5 am, including those of “a naval base in the Pearl Harbor, the Hickam air-force base in Honolulu,” according to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.

Kim also reviewed the satellite’s images of the South Korean port city of Busan, which Pyongyang said were taken at around 10 am on Saturday. The photos included ones of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, Pyongyang claimed.

Carl Vinson had arrived at the Busan Naval Base on Tuesday, according to Seoul’s military. In an earlier report on Saturday, KCNA said Kim had the day before reviewed the satellite’s images of “major target regions” in the South, including its capital and cities hosting US military bases.

Among the South Korean cities mentioned, Pyeongtaek -- around 60 kilometres from Seoul -- hosts Camp Humphreys, the largest overseas US military installation in the world. Pyeongtaek is also home to the Osan Air Base, which houses Seoul’s Air Force Operations Command as well as a US Air Force base.