A rather unsubtle message
After a lengthy period of not doing anything terribly provocative, North Korea has “test-fired” at least three and possibly as many as five missiles in the past couple of weeks. Considering how often this used to happen before Donald Trump’s efforts a negotiating with dictator Kim Jong-un, most analysts who study activities on the Korean peninsula weren’t terribly surprised. But the timing of these launches clearly wasn’t a coincidence, either. Now that there has been time to examine all of the data, it’s becoming clear that Kim was demonstrating not only his resolve in retaining his country’s status as a nuclear power but that he wanted to send a very specific message to an audience composed of one person… Joe Biden. And the message is that his weapons technology is still improving. When Biden offered public comments about the reckless nature of North Korea’s actions, Kim quickly fired back, blaming the new American president for the destabilization of the region. North Korea on Saturday snapped back at President Joe Biden’s criticism of its ballistic missile tests, calling his comments a provocation and encroachment on the North’s right to self-defense and vowing to continuously expand its “most thoroughgoing and overwhelming military power.” The statement issued by senior official Ri Pyong Chol came after the North on Thursday tested-fired two short-range missiles off its eastern coast in the first ballistic launches since Biden took office.
