On Wednesday, North Korea launched ballistic missiles into the eastern sea. As of 6:30 a.m. Thursday, the country’s state media—including KCNA and Rodong Sinmun—had not reported any relevant news.
North Korea typically uses state media to showcase the results of its ballistic missile launches the morning after, but this time it has remained silent. After another ballistic missile launch on the 6th of this month, the North has also said nothing about it. Analysts believe that since the North usually does not publicize launches conducted for purposes such as military demonstrations, training, or testing, these recent launches may have been carried out for those reasons.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Wednesday, at around 6 a.m. that day, North Korea launched a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area in Gangwon Province toward the eastern sea, with the missile flying over 700 kilometers. Missiles with a typical range of 300 to 1000 kilometers are classified as short-range ballistic missiles, but the JCS did not specify whether the missile launched by the North was a short-range ballistic missile.
This marks North Korea’s 11th ballistic missile launch this year. On the 6th of this month, the JCS reported that the North launched a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) from the Wonsan area that afternoon. At the time, the JCS did not disclose the specific flight distance of the missile, leading to speculation that the method of launch might be different from previous incidents.