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People at Seoul Station watch news coverage of North Korea’s launch of three short range missiles into the East Sea on Aug. 26. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean military announced on Aug. 28 that it has concluded in a joint assessment with the US that three projectiles fired by North Korea on Aug. 26 was likely a short-range ballistic missile. This contradicts an announcement made by the Blue House two day ago that the projectiles had been fired by a “300mm-calibre multiple rocket launcher.”

On Aug. 26, North Korea fired three short-range projectiles into the East Sea. Two of the projectiles reached an altitude of more than 50 km and traveled for 250 km. In a written briefing that followed a meeting of the standing committee of the National Security Council, the Blue House said that the projectile had presumably been fired by “an upgraded 300mm-calibre multiple rocket launcher.” But at the time the US Pacific Command expressed a conflicting opinion in a statement that said the projectile was probably a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM).

A ballistic missile is propelled by a rocket engine and equipped with a warhead weighing hundreds of kilograms that can devastate a wide area. A multiple rocket launcher, on the other hand, fires rockets that are lighter and less destructive, allowing it to take out specific targets. The UN Security Council has banned North Korea from developing ballistic missiles, but multiple rocket launchers are not subject to sanctions. For this reason, some experts have raised questions that the Blue House deliberately used the phrase “multiple rocket launcher” instead of “missile” in order to preserve the conciliatory mode with the North.

North Korean missile launches are being carefully monitored not only by South Korea but also by the international community, so they aren’t something that can be arbitrarily concealed by the South Korean government. Even if this wasn’t a deliberate cover-up, however, the government’s incorrect assessment and shoddy response point to serious challenges. Soon after North Korea’s missile launch, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said, “Our military and the US military detected signs of the North Korean launch in advance and continued to track [the projectiles]. We also precisely monitored the progress of the flight and analyzed the distance traveled.”

But the fact that they weren’t even able to draw a fundamental distinction between a multiple rocket launcher and a missile raises doubts about the military’s judgment. As similar incidents pile up, they erode the trust in the military’s intelligence assessments.

If the information wasn’t certain, the government should have approached the matter with greater caution, but instead they confused the public and created misunderstandings. The government should take to heart the sharp criticism that has been voiced recently about the capability of the Blue House’s National Security Office to coordinate related government ministries, including the Defense Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Considering North Korea’s close proximity to the South, multiple rocket launchers might be even more dangerous to us than short-range missiles, since multiple rocket launchers can fire their weapons simultaneously and repeatedly. The government needs to work tirelessly to reassure the public by taking every precaution when it comes to national security issues – whether those happen to be missiles or multiple rocket launchers.

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]