North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that crossed the Japanese archipelago the day before, but state media remained silent on the 5th.
On this day, North Korean Central News Agency, Chosun Central Broadcasting, and the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers’ Party, did not report any facts related to the medium-range ballistic missile launched from the area of Mupyong-ri in Jagang Province the morning of the previous day.
One ‘Hwasong-12’ medium-range ballistic missile that was launched from Mupyong-ri, Jagang Province and passed over Japan fell into the Pacific Ocean after flying 4,500 km over the Japanese archipelago.
North Korea’s IRBM launch is the first in 247 days, about eight months, since January 30.
North Korea has usually released articles and photos that define and evaluate the nature of the missile launch the day before through the state-run media on the next day.
Externally, it was a way to show off military capabilities while pressing for negotiations with the US, and internally, by emphasizing the status of the nation, it was a way to unite the people.
This pattern continued until the beginning of this year, but since last May, there has been a trend of not reporting at all regardless of the type of missile and the success or failure of the launch, so now ‘silence after provocation’ seems to be the norm.
Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University, said, “The fact that the Rodong Sinmun does not report the missile launch to the inside is proof that the internal situation is not that good. However, due to poor health and food conditions, residents will not positively accept the missile launch,” he said.
Some observers observe that the attitude has shifted toward adopting a kind of ‘strategic ambiguity’ as Chairman Kim Jong-un has already declared the completion of a nuclear force.
There is also an interpretation that the missile test launch is a procedure carried out according to the plan to strengthen the national defense force, and it is interpreted that it suggests that it is running ‘my way’ to the nuclear test.
In the midst of this, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has not appeared in public for the 25th day, drawing attention to the background.
This is the longest hiatus this year.
The last time Chairman Kim’s public activities appeared in the state media was taking a commemorative photo with those who contributed to the quarantine on the 9th of last month, the 74th anniversary of the establishment of the regime.
Recently, friendly exchanges were made with foreign leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, but only in the form of documents.
He disappeared for over a month between October and November of last year, and in July of this year, he went undercover for about three weeks.
Although there were rumors of abnormal health when Chairman Kim was in hiding for a long time in the past, the National Intelligence Service announced that Chairman Kim was in good health at the National Assembly Intelligence Committee on the 28th of last month.
/yunhap news