North Korean leader Kim Jong Un defended his country’s new military reconnaissance satellite as necessary to “curb dangerous invasion moves by the hostile forces” while meeting with space program workers on Thursday, according to state media.

Kim met party munitions industry department vice director Kim Jong Sik and National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) director Ryu Sang Hun at the space agency’s Pyongyang control center to celebrate this week’s successful satellite launch, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday.

In a speech at a celebratory banquet, Cabinet Premier Kim Tok Hun saidthe Malligyong-1 satellite launch elevates