North Korea claims spy satellite launch successful

North Korea has said it had succeeded in putting a military spy satellite into orbit, with state media claiming leader Kim Jong-un was already reviewing images of US military bases in Guam sent by Pyongyang's new eye in the sky.

The satellite will "formally start its reconnaissance mission from December 1 after finishing 7 to 10 days' fine-tuning process", the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Wednesday, adding that it was already transmitting images.

Images in state media showed Kim watching the launch, then smiling and waving, surrounded by white-uniformed scientists and engineers celebrating the satellite's purported success.

Kim "watched the aerospace photos of Anderson Air Force Base, Apra Harbor and other major military bases of the US forces taken in the sky above Guam in the Pacific, which were received at 9:21 AM on Nov. 22," according to KCNA.

Washington, Seoul and Tokyo have slammed the sanctions-busting launch, Pyongyang's third attempt this year to put a satellite into orbit, and the first since Kim met President Vladimir Putin at a Russian cosmodrome in September.

After failed attempts in May and August, KCNA reported that a rocket had blasted of late Tuesday and "accurately put the reconnaissance satellite 'Malligyong-1' on its orbit".

Eyes and a strong fist

Washington said the launch was a "brazen violation" of successive rounds of UN resolutions barring the North from tests of ballistic technology - used in both missiles and satellite launch rockets.

In response, Seoul on Wednesday partially suspended a 2018 military deal with the North, saying it would resume surveillance operations along their border.

South Korea's military said the purported spy satellite "was assessed to have entered orbit, from comprehensive analysis of flight track information and various circumstances".

But it added that "determining whether the satellite is actually operating will take time".

Speaking at Pyongyang's space launch centre, leader Kim claimed the development meant the North now has "both 'eyes' overlooking a very long distance and a strong 'fist' beating a very long distance", in a possible reference to the country's banned intercontinental ballistic missiles, which it claims could hit the US mainland.

Kim "stressed once again that it is necessary to operate many more reconnaissance satellites" to both increase the country's "military strike means... as well as for self-defence".

China, Pyongyang's longtime treaty ally and main economic benefactor, did not condemn the launch but said the situation was "complex and sensitive", foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a briefing.

"All parties concerned should remain calm and restrained, look squarely at the crux of the problem, adhere to the general direction of a political settlement, and do more to help ease tensions," she added.