North Korea fires ballistic missile ahead of joint drills but stays silent in state media

North Korea's state media made no mention Thursday of the ballistic missile Pyongyang fired into the East Sea the previous day — just five days before the start of the South Korea-US joint military exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS).

As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, neither KCNA, the regime's external news agency, nor the ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun had reported on the missile launched Wednesday.

North Korea typically publicizes ballistic missile launches through state media from early the following morning, trumpeting the purpose and results of each test.

However, state media have also remained completely silent on a separate ballistic missile fired Thursday, Aug. 6, now entering a second week without any coverage.

Analysts say North Korea sometimes refrains from reporting launches that serve primarily as training exercises or system checks rather than high-profile shows of force, and observers suggest both recent launches may fall into that category.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said they detected a single ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area into the East Sea at around 6 a.m. Wednesday, announcing the missile had traveled more than 700 kilometers.

Japan's Defense Ministry said the missile reached a maximum altitude of about 90 kilometers, flew approximately 690 kilometers and was believed to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said the straight-line distance from the Wonsan area to Sasebo Port is about 700 kilometers, which "effectively matches the observed flight distance of 690 to 700-plus kilometers," adding that Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni is also at roughly the same distance.

Sasebo serves as the home port of the US Navy's amphibious ready group and as the nearest logistics hub for American reinforcement forces that would deploy to the Korean Peninsula in a contingency. It is also set to become the home port of the Aegis destroyer Chokai, which is equipped with Tomahawk missiles.