Why would North Korea admit that it was specifically a spy satellite? Sure, it would be impossible to hide the launch itself, but without their admission, the rest of the world could only have guessed at what type of satellite it was.
Appear strong where you are weak.
The value isn’t it’s (likely crap) utility, it’s being able to say “Look at us: we’re launching spy satellites just like technologically advanced countries! We’re advancing our offensive capabilities! You’d better take us seriously!”
That’s what they want us to think.
We can pretty easily track satellites in orbit now. If there was something new, we’d know. You can’t hide that stuff anymore like you could in the 40s and 50s.
The number of people that track objects in LEO just… because it’s fun? You don’t put a silent satellite in space anymore.
