There are several interpretations about the fact that North Korea's major state media did not report on the fact that it launched a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) yesterday (7th).



The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Chosun Central News Agency, and the Chosun Central Broadcasting System did not mention anything about the SLBM launch that was conducted yesterday until this morning.



North Korea has usually released photos of the launch scene, along with articles defining and evaluating the nature of the launch, through the state-run media the day after the missile launch.



However, after North Korea fired a ballistic missile presumed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on the 4th, it did not report on it on the 5th, the next day, and this time, it is maintaining 'silence'.



There are several interpretations about North Korea's failure to announce an SLBM launch following an ICBM.



Internally, there are observations that this time there may be no special technological progress to advertise to the residents, or externally, it may be intended to give the impression that it is a routine military action on the level of self-defense.



There is also an analysis that the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, which will be launched the day after (10th), is intended to show off that continuous weapon development will be carried out according to the five-year defense plan they have established.



Another view is that North Korea has adopted a kind of 'strategic ambiguity' to increase external attention and pressure on its weapons development.



However, as ICBM and SLBM, which have not been reported recently, are among the core tasks of North Korea's five-year national defense development plan presented at the 8th Party Congress last year, experts observed that there is a possibility of disclosing the achievements of weapons development at a specific time.



Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff detected that a short-range ballistic missile was fired from a submarine near the Sinpo Sea in South Hamgyong Province, North Korea around 2:07 pm yesterday, and detected the missile at a flight range of about 600 km and an altitude of about 60 km.



Military and intelligence authorities evaluated this SLBM as similar to the 'mini SLBM' launched in October last year.



At that time, the mini SLBM was also launched from a submarine near Sinpo, and it was similar to this time with an altitude of about 60 km and a flight distance of about 590 km.



(Photo = Yonhap News)