N. Korea Claims Rocket Launch Was Actually Test of Country’s First Spy Satellite

North Korea claimed that its most recent rocket launch was actually a final-stage test for a burgeoning spy satellite program—a military milestone long sought by the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. The announcement was made by the Korean Central News Agency via a series of ominous photos, captured in black-and-white, of the South Korean city of Incheon. The state-run publication also quoted the country’s National Aerospace Development Administration, which called this weekend’s tests “an important success” that sets the stage for North Korea’s first operational military satellite to be launched by early next year. However, experts with the U.S.-based RAND Corporation told the Associated Press that the test satellite’s capabilities, while worrying, were for the time being less than “impressive.”