NORFOLK, Va. — North Korean media has claimed that the country's recently launched spy satellite took photographs of several U.S. military sites, including several in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia.
According to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the satellite Malligyong-1 captured "the Norfolk Naval Station, the Newport News Dockyard and an airfield of Virginia" shortly after 11:30 p.m. Monday in Pyongyang's time zone.
The state-run agency said "four U.S. Navy nuclear carriers and one British aircraft carrier" were spotted at "Norfolk Naval Station and the Newport News Dockyard." Other sites KCNA said were photographed include the White House, the Pentagon and Anderson Air Force Base in Guam.
North Korea didn't release the photographs, and their existence has not been independently verified.
North Korea's claims come more than a week after the Malligyong-1, the country's first spy satellite, was launched into orbit on Nov. 21. South Korean officials have said they confirmed the satellite entered orbit but have not verified its functionality, according to an AP report.
The AP also reported that outside experts are skeptical about whether the satellite can send high-resolution imagery and perform proper military reconnaissance.
The launch provoked further tensions between the Koreas and drew strong condemnation from the international community as a provocation threatening regional peace.
United Nations Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea because the world body regards them as covers for testing long-range missile technology. But North Korea says it has sovereign rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it says are escalating U.S.-led military threats.
During a Tuesday press conference, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the press secretary for the Department of Defense, said he didn't have any information on what photographs the satellite captured.
"I will say that there are plenty of images of the Pentagon and the White House online, so I'll just leave it at that," Ryder remarked in response to a reporter's question.
Dave Schmerler, an expert on satellite imagery with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said while he wagers that North Korea's imagery isn't high resolution, medium to lower resolutions are a starting point for military reconnaissance.
"For general reconnaissance, you can do a lot with medium resolution imagery (3-5 meters resolution)," Schmerler wrote in an e-mail to 13News Now on Thursday. "It can show you where large things are, plane movement, ships, and changes at facilities or locations of interest."
But to be useful for military applications, North Korea's goal is to develop a satellite fleet capable of more frequent and current imagery, Schmerler said. He also explained that higher-resolution imagery would be needed to discern the specific types of objects or activities being observed.
Virginia lawmakers are weighing in.
Senate Armed Services Committee member Tim Kaine said he's "not even sure it's true" but added, "Obviously, the shipyard and Navy base in Norfolk are pretty big. So, anybody with any assets in the sky can probably take some pictures of it. That would not be so shocking. We need to verify if the reports are true or not. We pay very close attention to North Korea. They know that they can’t mess around with us too much, because they would have everything to lose and nothing to gain."
House Armed Services Committee member Jen Kiggans said the reports are "concerning."
"North Korea has a tendency to sometimes embellish what exactly is happening," Kiggans said on Thursday. "However, it should be taken seriously at this point and until we understand what is real and true and not true. And we always need to be cognizant of just the security surrounding our bases from the air, from the land, from the sea. Our bases, the work they do there, our service men and women always need to be protected."
U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-01) condemned North Korea's photographs and called on President Joe Biden's administration to "assess the full surveillance capabilities of this satellite" to determine its threat.
"I strongly condemn North Korea’s latest launch of a military satellite, which violated multiple international resolutions against the use of ballistic missile technology," Wittman wrote in a statement. "The pictures the satellite took of the White House, Pentagon, and U.S. aircraft carriers at Norfolk Naval Base in my home state of Virginia were deliberate."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.