N.K. media's silence suggests leader Kim didn't attend missile launches
SEOUL, April 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korean state media remained silent Wednesday about missile launches conducted the previous day, suggesting that leader Kim Jong-un did not attend the firings.
The North launched a barrage of cruise missiles off its east coast and air-to-ground missiles from fighter jets into the East Sea on Tuesday, a day before the 108th birthday of late founding leader Kim Il-sung and South Korea's general elections, according to South Korea's military.
But on Wednesday, the official Korean Central News Agency, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper and other state media outlets carried no report about the launches, though they usually report such launches a day later if leader Kim supervises them.
The silence appears to be designed to underscore that the launches are routine drills.
In Washington, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff also said the firings were not "particularly provocative or threatening" to the United States.
"It may be tied to some celebrations that are happening inside North Korea, as opposed to any deliberate provocation against us," Milley said.
These photos published by the North's daily Rodong Sinmun on June 9, 2017, show the launch of the country's new surface-to-ship cruise missile. The report said leader Kim Jong-un observed the missile launch, which South Korea detected a day earlier. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
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