The Real Intent Behind North Korea's Missile Launch... A 'Kim Jong-un Face-Saving' Move?

North Korea carried out a test launch of its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-18, the previous day, drawing attention to the reasons behind it. Political figures well-versed in diplomacy and security analyzed that there are various strategic motives, ranging from the external purpose of hindering U.S. President Joe Biden's re-election to the internal purpose of restoring the prestige of Kim Jong-un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea.

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won inferred the missile launch's purpose on the 13th during SBS's 'Kim Tae-hyun's Political Show,' stating, "Kim Jong-un, the General Secretary of the Workers' Party, refrained from launching and conducting nuclear tests during the previous Biden-Trump election and Biden's midterm elections because they misjudged and were deceived. Therefore, I predicted that he will definitely carry out the launch to obstruct President Biden's re-election next year."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He also saw President Yoon Suk-yeol's 'tit-for-tat' diplomatic response as an influencing factor. He said, "President Yoon Suk-yeol is continuously taking a hardline stance, and North Korea's reaction is in response to this," adding, "President Yoon's hardline approach ultimately gives North Korea more time to enhance its nuclear and ICBM facilities and technology. That's how I see it."

He emphasized the need for the South Korean government to engage in more dialogue with the North. Former People Power Party Emergency Committee Chairman Kim Jong-in also stated on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' "From our perspective, North Korea keeps trying to develop nuclear weapons and launch missiles, which we believe will have a significant impact on our security. However, once nuclear development and missile launches reach a certain limit, they cannot continue further," adding, "We have no choice but to start dialogue with North Korea at some point."

There is also analysis that the launch was intended to save face for General Secretary Kim and to address the deteriorating public sentiment caused by the 'satellite launch failure.' Tae Yong-ho, a People Power Party lawmaker and former North Korean diplomat, wrote on his social media, "Kim Jong-un publicly declared until April this year that he would successfully launch the first military reconnaissance satellite. However, not only did it fail, but they also had no choice but to inform the residents of the failure," adding, "Although he boasted about relaunching as soon as possible, it seems that considerable time is needed to succeed in a second launch. For Kim Jong-un, it was urgent to restore his lost prestige during the transitional period until the satellite relaunch."

Regarding North Korea's recent statement criticizing U.S. military reconnaissance flights over international waters, he interpreted, "Ultimately, the U.S. reconnaissance flights that North Korea took issue with seem to have been used as a pretext to claim success in improving ICBM performance, thereby restoring Kim Jong-un's prestige, which was damaged by the military satellite failure, and to pressure South Korea, which evaluated the North's military reconnaissance satellite as ineffective."

This solid-fuel ICBM test launch was conducted under the on-site guidance of Kim Jong-un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea. According to the Rodong Sinmun, during his on-site guidance, Kim raised his voice, saying, "We will continue to take stronger military offensives until the U.S. imperialists and the South Korean puppet traitors despairingly acknowledge and give up their shameful defeat in their futile anti-republic hostile policies."

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