Kim Jong Un observes a weapons test organized by national defense research institutions [Pyongyang=Yonhap News/KCNA]

North Korean state media remained silent again on the day after the country launched a barrage of over 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.

As of 6:30 a.m. on the 21st, North Korean outlets, including the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) for international audiences and the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea for domestic readers, had yet to report on the previous day's missile launches.

Typically, North Korea uses its state media to publicize the objectives and successes of its missile launches early the morning after they occur, especially highlighting them if leader Kim Jong Un was present. However, the regime has remained silent regarding the three ballistic missile launches conducted over the past two weeks.

Previously, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced that they had detected the launch of over 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea at approximately 5 p.m. the previous day, adding that South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were analyzing the exact specifications.

According to the JCS, the ballistic missiles flew approximately 300 kilometers.

Military authorities are focusing their analysis on the possibility that these were 600mm super-large multiple rocket launchers (KN-25). The 600mm super-large multiple rocket launcher is a weapon designed for strikes against the South that North Korea claims can be equipped with its "Hwasan-31" tactical nuclear warheads.

This marks North Korea's 12th missile launch this year and its first in eight days.

Prior to this, the JCS also detected and reported ballistic missile launches on the 6th and 12th of this month.

On the 6th, one short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) was fired from the Wonsan area at approximately 5 p.m., and six days later, on the 12th, another ballistic missile launch was detected at 6 a.m.

Recent ballistic missile launches by North Korea are interpreted as a backlash against the "Ulchi Freedom Shield" (UFS) exercise, the regular combined military drill held by South Korea and the U.S. to ensure the defense of the Korean Peninsula in the event of a contingency.

The UFS exercise, which began on the 17th, was originally scheduled to run until the 27th. However, following President Donald Trump's directive to scale back the exercises, the training period was significantly reduced from 11 days to 5 days, concluding on the 21st.

In particular, the mass ballistic missile launch the previous day is being interpreted as a show of force following President Trump's "love call" for dialogue and his decision to downsize the exercises, serving as a signal to pressure the U.S. into halting all combined South Korea-U.S. military drills.