Thread by @ArmsControlWonk

A brief guide to DPRK missile watching online.

North Korea is going to be launching a lot of interesting stuff again. Here's the information we get, where we get it from and when.

Within minutes, the ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff usually texts an announcement to reporters first. This appears in @YonhapNews, ROK's state media, which will update the story repeatedly through the day, adding details each time. Yonhap has issued four versions of the story already.

The details usually include the time of launch, place, distance and apogee. The ROK used to give flight-time; lately they've been giving burnout velocity in the form of a Mach number. These estimates are rounded and often don't match what the North Koreans will later say.

The @ModJapan_en will also issue a statement online, usually in the form of a "breaking" announcement that says nothing other than that a launch has occurred and then a "follow up" a few hours later with details and map. In Japanese.
mod.go.jp/j/press/news/2…

@INDOPACOM will also issue a statement that I would characterize as "completely useless." This is a shame because the statements used to be quite helpful.

The next day: The North Koreans may publicize the test themselves. If so, the first story will appear the next morning in Rodong Sinmun (Worker's Daily) with a small number of pictures. KCNA will usually follow with more pictures a few minutes later.

The North Koreans have gotten in the habit of giving some details lately, like range. A lot of other details can be deduced from the images, like when Kim poses with a map.

North Korea issues television news bulletins in the evening at 5:00 and 8:00 pm. A news anchor will read the text of the story with more still images, including ones that weren't released by Rodong Sinmun or KCNA. (Sometimes KCNA might add the new images to its collection.)

Yes, that's right. The television news largely shows still images. One rarely gets a little video clip. Video has to wait until later, if the visit gets included in a compilation of Kim's guidance visits or a documentary.