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| This combined photo, released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sept. 13, 2021, shows a long-range cruise missile being fired, as Pyongyang test-fired new long-range cruise missiles on Sept. 11 and 12. Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
The absence of coverage of North Korea's cruise missile launch by its state media is largely due to its lower strategic importance than that of ballistic missiles, according to Pyongyang watchers.
However, others also assume that the test may have ended in failure.
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), North Korea launched two cruise missiles, Tuesday, marking its fifth show of force for 2022, following its firing of ballistic missiles on Jan. 5, 11, 14 and 17.
Traditionally, North Korea has broken the news of its missile launches the following day through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) or the Rodong Sinmun, a North Korean newspaper and mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party, but neither of them covered the incident, sparking speculation here.
"The North Korean military is currently holding winter drills and it seems to have fired cruise missiles as part of them. In addition, cruise missiles are of less interior and exterior influence than ballistic missiles in terms of strategic value. In that respect, the North Korean regime appears to have decided not to report the launches," said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification.
"When the KCNA or the Rodong Sinmun report military activities, the coverage is aimed at showing off its new military weapons under development or military hardware that has strategic or tactical value."
In fact, North Korea did not report its cruise missile tests in April 2020 and March 2021, but its latest launch of cruise missiles was publicized.
However, Cheong Seong-chang, the director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute, said North Korea may have failed its missile test, so the regime did not make it public.
"Ahead of the 80th birthday anniversary of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's late father Kim Jong-il on Feb. 16, North Korea needs to create a festive mood and extend it until that time. For this reason, the country should have promoted the successful test-firing albeit briefly," Cheong said.
"No coverage of the missile test means that it did not live up to expectations or ended in failure."
Experts believe that North Korea will continue to test-fire its missiles, but its frequency would decline during the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, scheduled to kick off, Feb. 4, in order not to irk China, the North's lone economic pipeline and diplomatic protector.
"Although North Korean missiles will be launched, they will not be as frequent as now," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University.
"Along with the KN-23 and KN-24 missiles that it launched earlier this year, North Korea may also test-fire a long-range cruise missile and the KN-25."
The KN-23 is a variant of Russia's Iskander, while the KN-24 is the North Korean version of the U.S.' Army Tactical Missile System. The KN-25 is a super-large caliber multiple rocket launcher.
Hong also said North Korea's missiles are likely to be on full display in April.
"North Korea will mark the 110th birthday anniversary of North Korea founder Kim Il-sung on April 16 and to mark the event, it is expected to carry out a weapons test," Hong said.
"In addition, the U.S. government is engrossed in other diplomatic issues such as Ukraine and China, while China and Russia still stand up for North Korea against the United States at the United Nations Security Council, so the North is expected to take advantage of the 'strategic vacuum' in developing and testing its missiles."
