N. Korea remains silent over latest missile launches

North Korea remained silent on the ballistic missiles it launched the previous day, marking the third consecutive time the regime had avoided announcing such launches the following morning. This silence, while noteworthy, is not entirely unprecedented. The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and Rodong Sinmun, the country's most widely-read newspaper, had not mentioned the launch by 6:30 a.m. on Friday. The regime has previously kept launches out of its state media when they offered little propaganda value.

On Thursday, North Korea fired more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, during an ongoing South Korea-U.S. military exercise that Pyongyang had accused of rehearsals for war. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that the missiles flew approximately 300 km, with further analysis pending. North Korea's latest missile launches occurred even as U.S. President Donald Trump sought to reopen a diplomatic channel with Pyongyang.

Trump had ordered the scaling back of an ongoing allied military exercise as a conciliatory gesture toward North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The missile launches also came about a week after the exercise.