North Korea says its new spy satellite photographed the White House and Pentagon.

North Korea has successfully launched its first spy satellite into orbit around the world, sending a message to the rest of the world that it can monitor it as well. This comes after decades of satellite observation by international governments and experts.

On Tuesday, North Korean state media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had evaluated spy satellite photographs of the White House, the Pentagon, and United States aircraft ships stationed at the naval facility in Norfolk.

The North Korean government has stated that the purpose of its first reconnaissance satellite, which was safely launched last week, was to monitor the activities of the United States and South Korean armed forces.

Over time, state-run media outlets have alleged that the satellite captured images of cities and military locations in South Korea, Guam, and Italy, in addition to the capital of the United States.

“Remember when you got that toy you always wanted at Xmas and were so excited you wanted to tell everyone about it?” In a post on X, Chad O’Carroll, the proprietor of the website NK News, which focuses on North Korea, voiced his opinion about the news from KCNA.

Analysts and governments from other countries are now debating the capabilities of the new satellite because Pyongyang has not yet published any imagery about the spacecraft.

In a statement released on Tuesday, South Korea stated that the launch date of its first spy satellite, scheduled for November 30, would be postponed due to weather conditions. South Korea also stated that the capabilities of the North Korean satellites could not be confirmed.

According to Dave Schmerler, a satellite imaging specialist at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), there is no reason to doubt that the satellite could view the extensive regions or warships North Korea said it could. Schmerler stated that even a camera with a medium resolution might provide Pyongyang with the potential to observe such things.

“But how useful those images are depends on what they want to use them for,” added the professor.

As Schmerler pointed out, for North Korea’s medium-resolution satellites to be helpful in a conflict, the country will need to launch many of them to enable more frequent passes over vital locations. This is a goal that the North Korean space agency has stated it is working toward.

“It’s a big leap for them going from zero to something, but until we can see the images they’re collecting, we’re speculating on its use cases,” said the researcher.

Another researcher at CNS, Jeffrey Lewis, stated that a photo published in the official media showing Kim inspecting the satellite photographs with his daughter suggests that the images may be panchromatic. Panchromatic photography is a sort of black-and-white photography that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light.

Following the rocket launch in December 2022, North Korea published panchromatic pictures of Seoul’s downtown area. The country claimed this was a test of their planned military spy satellite’s satellite control, image capture, and data downlink capabilities.

The photographs taken on Tuesday were the most recent in a series of pictures that KCNA referred to as representations of “major target regions.”

In addition, Kim reviewed satellite images of the Andersen Air Force Base, which is located in the territory of Guam, which is part of the United States Western Pacific region, as well as a shipyard and airfield in Norfolk and Newport, which is located in the United States. According to KCNA, Kim also saw four nuclear-powered and British aircraft carriers.

It was not immediately possible to obtain commercial images of those cities on November 27, which is the day that North Korea claims it took its photos.

The launch of the satellite has been denounced by both the United States of America and South Korea as a breach of resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council that prohibit using any ballistic technology.