North Korea has stayed silent through its state media for a second consecutive day following its mass launch of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.
As of 6:30 a.m. Friday, major North Korean outlets — including the external propaganda agency KCNA and the ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun — had not reported on the missile launches carried out Thursday.
Pyongyang typically mobilizes its state media from early the morning after a missile provocation to trumpet the exercise's objectives and results, and to highlight whether leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the launch in person. Yet North Korea has maintained silence over all three ballistic missile provocations carried out in roughly the past two weeks.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, South Korean military authorities detected more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea at around 5 p.m. Thursday. The projectiles flew approximately 300 kilometers, and South Korean and US intelligence agencies are conducting detailed analysis of their specifications.
The military is leaning toward the assessment that North Korea carried out a mass salvo using its 600mm super-large multiple rocket launcher (KN-25), a weapon system designed to strike South Korea that Pyongyang claims can carry the Hwasan-31 tactical nuclear warhead.
Thursday's launch came eight days after Aug. 12 and marked the 12th ballistic missile provocation this year. Earlier, the military had detected a single short-range ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area at around 5 p.m. on Aug. 6, and confirmed another single ballistic missile launch at 6 a.m. on Aug. 12, six days later.
Military officials and analysts broadly view North Korea's string of provocations as a reaction to the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) combined field maneuver exercise between South Korea and the United States.
The UFS exercise, which opened Monday, was originally scheduled to run through Aug. 27, but was sharply cut from 11 days to five at the direction of US President Donald Trump, with the drills set to officially conclude Friday. Some analysts say the large-scale launch — carried out even after Trump signaled willingness to talk and trimmed the exercise schedule — amounts to a message to Washington pressing for a complete halt to joint military drills.
sunpine@heraldcorp.com
