ST. LOUIS — A South Korean company specializing in satellite imagery analysis is developing new techniques to identify missiles, launchers and supporting infrastructure in North Korea, with potential applications far beyond the shared peninsula.

SI Analytics CEO Taegyun Jeon on May 22 briefed reporters on the North Korea Dynamic Ballistic Missile Operation Area Search Project at the GEOINT Symposium in St. Louis, Missouri. The company previously competed in U.S. Defense Innovation Unit challenges, including building-damage assessments and the detection of so-called dark vessels that don’t broadcast their locations nor appear in public monitoring systems.

The latest project fuses Earth-observation data from multiple commercial satellite operators with in-house artificial intelligence-augmented image analysis to detect and classify anomalies — North Korean ballistic missile operations, for example. The findings, once verified by experts, can then be shared, facilitating a government response.

“We will contribute our private sector capability and effort for a safer world,” Taegyun said. “As can be seen in the media, the news, there is increasing global stress from North Korea.”

This image released and notated by Airbus Defense and Space as well as 38 North shows the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in North Korea. (Airbus Defense and Space/38 North via AP)

North Korean missile tests rattle neighbors and far-flung nations alike. They also draw widespread condemnation. A joint statement issued this week by South Korea and the European Union described North Korean developments as “reckless” and as a “serious threat” to “international and regional peace and security.”

A meaningful dialogue is needed, it continued, as is a suspension of “all actions that raise military tensions.”

SI Analytics was established in 2018. It is based in Daejeon, with offices in Seoul and Gwangju.

Colin Demarest is a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covers military networks, cyber and IT. Colin previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.

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