[Summary] North Korea Launches Ballistic Missile into East Sea... Possibility of Additional Launches

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] North Korea launched one ballistic missile into the East Sea on the 4th.

On the same day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent a text message to the press corps stating, “At around 12:03 PM, one ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang Sunan area toward the East Sea was detected,” and added, “Our military is currently tracking and monitoring related movements in preparation for additional launches while maintaining a readiness posture.”

This launch comes 18 days after North Korea fired two ‘new tactical guided weapons’ assessed to be intended for use against the South from the Hamhung area at around 6 PM on the 16th of last month, marking the 14th show of force this year. The level of this provocation is drawing attention as it is the first ‘provocation’ since State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un publicly mentioned the possibility of a ‘preemptive nuclear strike’ on the 25th of last month.

The military is reportedly analyzing the possibility that the missile could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or other medium- to long-range ballistic missile. Pyongyang Sunan is the site where North Korea launched an ICBM at maximum performance on March 24.

At that time, North Korea announced domestically and internationally through a public report the next day that it had successfully launched a new ICBM called the ‘Hwasong-17.’ However, military authorities, based on analysis of multiple intelligence assets, judged that North Korea actually fired the existing ICBM ‘Hwasong-15’ and deceptively promoted it as the Hwasong-17.

Within the military, there is also analysis that this could be a kind of ‘signal flare’ indicating an intention to significantly raise the level of strategic provocations ahead of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s inauguration in six days and the upcoming South Korea-US summit. On the same day, the confirmation hearing for Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-seop was held at the National Assembly’s Defense Committee, and the committee members are scheduled to receive a missile-related briefing from Defense Ministry officials in the afternoon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.