Leader Kim Jong Un said “a lot” of military reconnaissance satellites would be put in orbit as part of a five-year plan announced in 2021.

State media KCNA reported that Kim inspected the country’s space agency this week and that Kim noted, “The purpose of developing and operating the military reconnaissance satellite is to provide the armed forces of the DPRK with real-time information on military actions against it by the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its forces in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific.”

The move may prove as controversial as the country’s nuclear-armed weapons tests because experts say the satellite uses the same ballistic missile technology banned by the UN Security Council.

Pyongyang said it’s conducted two satellite systems tests over the last two months.

The launches drew international condemnation and U.S. military responded by increasing its surveillance of the Yellow Sea and heightened its ballistic missile defense readiness.

KCNA reported Kim defended the satellite work as protecting North Korea’s sovereignty, exercising its rights to self-defense, and elevating national prestige.