A senior North Korean defense official said on Tuesday that North Korea plans to launch its first military spy satellite in June.

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Ri Pyong-chol, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, announced the plan for the launch of the military reconnaissance satellite Number One.

North Korea earlier notified Japan of its plan to launch a satellite between May 31 and June 11.

Ri said that the satellite, along with various reconnaissance capabilities due to be newly tested, are "indispensable" to tracking, monitoring and coping with the dangerous military acts of the U.S. and its “vassal forces” in real time.

The official also accused the U.S. of conducting hostile aerial espionage activities over the Korean Peninsula and the vicinity, calling them a serious threat to the North and other countries in the region.

Ri stressed that North Korea will comprehensively consider present and future threats and thoroughly implement activities to strengthen comprehensive and practical war deterrent capabilities.