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| President Moon Jae-in, center, speaks during a luncheon with South Korean and U.S. military commanders including Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, on his left, and the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) chief Gen. Robert Abrams, to his right, at Cheong Wa Dae, in this May 21 photo. Korea Times file |
By Jung Da-min
It has been over a month since North Korea's launch of short-range missiles on May 4 and 9, but the Ministry of National Defense is still reluctant to say they were "ballistic" missiles, despite a recent report from the U.S. Congress which identified them as ballistic missiles and, therefore, a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday Seoul and Washington share common views on the matter, including what it described as "the possibility" they were ballistic missiles as the U.S. Congress report stated.
"The Republic of Korea and the U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing details on the launches such as the type of projectiles and firing data while sharing a common awareness on the matter, which includes the possibility raised in the analysis of the U.S. Congressional Research Service," deputy ministry spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said in a regular a press briefing.
Last Thursday, the U.S. Congressional Research Service published the report titled "North Korea's Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs." It said, "Testing as well as official North Korean statements suggest that North Korea is striving to build a credible regional nuclear warfighting capability that might evade regional ballistic missile defenses," in reference to the North's series of missile and nuclear weapons tests that also included the test launches in May.
Although the ministry has indirectly and vaguely agreed the North launched ballistic missiles last month, it is not likely that the ministry will make this its "official statement," because the ministry missed the right timing to make the announcement given its intentional silence so as not to conflict with President Moon Jae-in's drive to maintain peace with the North, politics and defense analysts said.
"It is rather a political consideration," said Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
"If the defense ministry makes an official announcement the North fired ballistic missiles, the ministry will face questions about follow-up measures in response to the violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions, which could deteriorate inter-Korean relations."
Shin said the ministry should have made the announcement earlier as the defense and diplomacy policies should be handled separately.
"In response to the North Korea missiles issue, relevant U.S. government departments have made their own assessment based on their analysis," he said.
Another North Korean watcher, an assistant professor Choi Yoon-cheol of Sangmyung University's Department of National Defense, says what matters now is the response of U.S. President Donald Trump, as the analysis regarding the launches is almost completed at this point.
"The government is expected to keep its NCND (neither confirm nor deny) stance until Trump responds to this matter, and the defense ministry will also follow the government's stance not to hinder diplomatic efforts," Choi said.
But Trump's further reaction on this matter is not likely to come in the near future, Choi added, as Trump is now focusing on the trade conflict with China ahead of his re-election vote next year.
"Trump seems to be wanting to keep this level of tension where the North does not make further provocations," he said.
