North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, center, plants trees with the participants in the 2nd Conference of Secretaries of Primary Committees of the Workers' Party during an event in Pyongyang March 2, to mark the North's Arbor Day.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has visited the country's space agency, and said the recent development of a reconnaissance satellite is aimed at collecting information on the U.S. military in the region and its "vassal forces," Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday.

On Saturday, North Korea fired a ballistic missile in a second such test in less than a week that Pyongyang claimed was for developing a reconnaissance satellite.

"He noted that the purpose of developing and operating the military reconnaissance satellite is to provide the armed forces of the DPRK with real-time information on military actions against it by the aggression troops of the U.S. imperialism and its vassal forces in South Korea, Japan and the Pacific," the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim said it is the party's "important strategic and tactical policy" to "keep a close eye on and distinguish the character of hostile military actions against the DPRK" and "enhance the capability for controlling situation and improve the rapid counteraction capability of the armed forces."