The U.S. Department of State reportedly considers North Korea's launching of satellites using ballistic missile technology to also be a clear violation of the U.N. Security Council sanctions.
That's according to Voice of America, citing a State Department official.
North Korea's announcement last month that it will halt all nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests... did not mention satellites.
But the official said the sanctions require the North to verifiably and irreversibly abandon its ballistic missile program,... which despite the North's claims that its satellites are purely for peaceful purposes, means they too are strictly prohibited.