If this was an ICBM test the fact that it did not rise as high in apogee as other tests indicates something did not go right. For example the March ICBM test had an apogee of 4,475 kilometers. This test had an apogee of 780 kilometers:
North Korea’s state-controlled news outlets were unusually silent Thursday about the country’s latest ballistic missile test the previous day.
There had been no related reports by the secretive nation’s media, including the Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun, as of 5 p.m., unlike Pyongyang’s usual practice of quickly boasting publicly about its major weapons tests.
On Wednesday, the North launched a ballistic missile, which flew 470 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 780 km before falling into the East Sea, according to South Korea’s military. Some informed sources said it seems to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fired at a lofted angle.
The North’s media has usually carried reports, coupled with a number of photos, of such major missile tests the next morning, except for failed launches like the one in mid-March.
Observers here raised the possibility that the North failed to achieve its goal in the latest missile firing, the 14th of this year.
Military authorities here appeared intent on figuring out why the North’s state media had not reported on the missile launch.
“What appears to be certain is that the North did not conduct the missile launch at its fullest capacity,” a military source said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Besides the upcoming inauguration the Defense Chief nominee was testifying which may be the real reason why they fired this missile:
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, in the recalcitrant regime’s latest saber-rattling that comes less than a week before President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol’s inauguration.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 12:03 p.m. and that the missile flew 470 kilometers at a top altitude of 780 km and speed of Mach 11.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It seems like the Kim regime is rhetorically building up towards a near term nuclear test. With the new ROK President taking office this month and activists restarting propaganda balloon launches into North Korea it seems like almost a certainty a major provocation is coming:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stressed the need to bolster the country’s military power to “preemptively and thoroughly contain” nuclear threats from hostile forces, according to Pyongyang’s state media Saturday.
He met with top military commanders who organized a massive street parade in Pyongyang earlier this week, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Kim was quoted as calling on his military commanders to maintain the “absolute superiority” of the armed forces and constantly develop in order to “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves, including ever-escalating nuclear threats from hostile forces, if necessary.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This could be interpreted to mean that the Kim regime is setting the conditions for yet another nuclear test:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a resolve to further strengthen his regime’s nuclear capabilities, as the country showcased a “giant” intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at a military parade earlier this week, according to its state media Tuesday.
Delivering a speech during the event, Kim vowed to boost the country’s nuclear capabilities at the “fastest possible speed” at the nighttime parade to celebrate the 90th founding anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA) held Monday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but the war in Ukraine has further validated to the Kim regime the value of nuclear weapons. You can get away with a lot more bad behavior when you have a credible nuclear deterrent.
No that the Kim regime cares, but it is hypocritical of them to complain about US & ROK personnel basically playing a glorified computer game when they are the ones shooting missiles near their neighbors and threatening another nuclear test:
North Korean propaganda organs on Thursday slammed the annual combined military training between South Korea and the United States, labeling it as preparation for war, while the Kim Jong-un regime has made no formal response yet.
Earlier this week, South Korea and the United States kicked off their combined springtime military training that does not include any field troop maneuvers. It is to run through next Thursday.
“This is a reckless, dangerous play with fires of war and a clear exercise for the invasion of the North, driving the Korean Peninsula’s political situation that is already unstable to an extreme,” Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda outlet, said in a commentary posted on its website.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
Nobody does military parades better than the North Koreans:
North Korea appears to be making final-stage preparations for a military parade involving a large number of troops ahead of another key anniversary next week, according to satellite imagery reported by U.S. news outlets Wednesday.
More than 12,000 troops were seen gathering at a plaza of Mirim Airfield in Pyongyang earlier this week, Radio Free Asia (RFA) said. It cited commercial satellite imagery provided by Planet Labs.
The area is known as the secretive North’s traditional parade training venue with the replica of Kim Il Sung Square, where such an event highlighted by goose-stepping soldiers and a show of major weapon systems is actually staged. The satellite imagery was taken on Sunday, a week before the North celebrates the 90th founding anniversary of the North Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA), the anti-Japanese guerrilla force.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
This was the fireworks show that North Korea put on for Kim Il-sung’s 110th birthday party:
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw the successful test-firing of a new tactical guided weapon meaningful in improving the efficiency of tactical nuclear operations, Pyongyang’s state media announced Sunday.
The new weapon system is “of great significance in drastically improving the firepower of the frontline long-range artillery units and enhancing the efficiency in the operation of tactical nukes of the DPRK and diversification of their firepower missions,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The test-fire was carried out successfully,” it added without giving other details of the tested weapon, including its type.
South Korea’s military said later that it detected the North’s launch of two projectiles into the East Sea at 6 p.m. Saturday. They flew 110 kilometers at an apogee of around 25 km and a top speed of Mach 4, it added.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The only interesting so far to come out of this anniversary party is that the Kim regime for some reason did not flaunt their military hardware:
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a massive civilian parade in the capital, Pyongyang, celebrating a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather in which thousands marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family, state media said Saturday.
The reports didn’t mention any speech or comments made by Kim during Friday’s event and it appeared the country passed its biggest holiday without showcasing its military hardware, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
