North Korea has apparently decided it’s time to test the Biden administration by launching two ballistic missiles today:
WASHINGTON TIMES – North Korea on Wednesday escalated its provocations toward the Biden administration and U.S. allies in Northeast Asia by launching two ballistic missiles into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un fired the missiles roughly 24 hours after the Biden administration had sought to downplay a pair of previous launches that U.S. officials say the regime carried out last weekend.
There was no immediate reaction from the administration to Wednesday’s launches.
South Korean officials said the launches originated from North Korea’s eastern South Hamgyong Province and occurred early in the morning. A report by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said North Korea fired “two unidentified projectiles.”
Yonhap quoted a South Korean military statement as saying “further information is under analysis by South Korea-U.S. intelligence authorities.”
“Our military is keeping a staunch readiness posture under a close South Korea-U.S. coordination with heightened monitoring and security,” the statement said.
U.S. officials later confirmed the launches to U.S. news organizations.
I think Kim Jong Un has decided it’s time to test the resolve of the Biden administration to see how far they can push them. These launches, paired with launches last week, are a serious escalation in what has been a quiet North Korea for a while.
I do recall some launches back in 2019, but I think it’s been pretty quiet since then. The fact that Kim is doing all of these launches now means he wants to know how much ‘strategic patience’ Biden has, and I expect he’ll be pretty pleased.
Given that Trump’s negotiations with Kim failed, I don’t expect there to be anything of that magnitude either. But who knows, Biden might send Kamala to North Korea to handle that too.