North Korea Vows To ‘Conquer Space’ & Plant Its Flag On Moon

It has nearly been 50 years since the United States put men on the moon, but that doesn't mean it's too late for North Korea to do the same thing - and conquer space while doing so.

BY JACK MOORE
NEWSWEEK

North Korea wants to "conquer space" and plant flag on the Moon https://t.co/51Cb96mve9

— Korean Ray (@koreanray) August 5, 2016

In a report from Newsweek, it seems that North Korea is working on a plan to put satellites into space and plant their flag on the moon, in an attempt to counter international sanctions. A senior official at the North Korean Space Agency said that Pyongyang is planning on having satellites in orbit by 2020 and have their own flag on the moon within ten years, adding that international sanctions on the state will not let them forget their ambitions for their own space programs.

Hyon Kwang Il, director of the scientific research department of North Korea's National Aerospace Development Administration stated, "Even though the U.S. and its allies try to block our space development, our aerospace scientists will conquer space and definitely plant the flag of the DPRK on the moon."

The current five-year-plan was sanctioned by Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, to focus on launching Earth observation satellites as well as N. Korea's first geostationary communications satellite, which if successful, will be a major step forward in terms of technology, as observed by CBC News.

While not many people may take this seriously, the Korean moon mission is not as far-fetched as it seems: outside experts believe that the project, although ambitious, is not entirely unconceivable. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said, "Given their low flight rate of one mission every few years, I think it is hard to see them succeeding in this in the next five years, but possible to see them attempting it."

North Korea currently has two satellites in orbit: the KMS-3-2 and the KMS-4. While this achievement is relatively new - the North only put its first satellite in orbit in 2012 - they were able to achieve what very few countries were able to do so - their rival, South Korea, is still without satellite today.