North Korea stays silent after latest missile launch ahead of UFS drills
Pyongyang's unusual silence after two launches may signal tests of an upgraded weapon or a bid to assess allied detection capabilities.
A news report on North Korea’s ballistic missile launch is broadcast at Seoul Station in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 12, ahead of the joint Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise.
YONHAP
North Korean state media on Thursday is keeping quiet about a ballistic missile it launched into the East Sea the previous day.
The launch is widely seen as a protest against the upcoming South Korea-U.S. Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) exercise and Japan’s moves to strengthen its military, but neither the Korean Central News Agency nor the Rodong Sinmun had reported on it as of Thursday morning.
North Korea typically announces missile launches through state media the following day, releasing photographs along with details on the weapon’s specifications and the purpose of the launch. Pyongyang, however, did not publicly disclose the firing of a ballistic missile from the same area around Wonsan, Kangwon Province, on Aug. 6, and has again offered no explanation for the latest launch.
Analysts say the consecutive launches could be part of a scheduled weapons development program.
“The fact that [North Korea] carried out repeated single launches from the same location at six-day intervals lends weight to the possibility that they were test launches of an upgraded version,” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
The silence could mean the weapon is not yet ready to be showcased domestically or internationally, or that the tests failed to produce the expected results.
Another possibility is that North Korea is deliberately withholding details of the projectile to test South Korea-U.S. readiness and their detection and analysis capabilities. South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities launched a detailed analysis of the Aug. 6 ballistic missile after finding its trajectory differed from that of a conventional ballistic missile.
Regarding the missile launched on Wednesday, Japan's Ministry of Defense said it reached a maximum altitude of about 90 kilometers (56 miles) and flew approximately 690 kilometers.
Some experts say it may have been another test of an upgraded Hwasong-11E, a short-range hypersonic weapon believed to combine the body of a KN-23, also known as Hwasong-11A, a short-range ballistic missile with a glider-type hypersonic glide vehicle as its warhead. Another possibility is that North Korea tested a Hwasong-16B hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile at a reduced range.
Analysts also say Pyongyang may be withholding reports on several launches to announce them together later for greater propaganda effect.
“There is also a possibility that North Korea is seeking to create a more dramatic effect through a burst of consolidated reporting,” said Oh Gyeong-seob, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
North Korea has used such a strategy before. The Unification Ministry said Pyongyang carried out seven missile launches on Sept. 25, 28 and 29 and Oct. 1, 4, 6 and 9 in 2022, then reported them together on Oct. 10, the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Workers’ Party. State media at the time described the launches collectively as the military drills of tactical nuclear operation units of the Korean People’s Army.
BY CHUNG YEONG-GYO [kim.hayoon1@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
