SEOUL — North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile over the weekend – its first such test of 2023 – set tensions soaring once again on the divided peninsula and spurred the U.S. to send strategic bombers over the region in a show of force.
Already dealing with a war in Ukraine and soaring tensions with China, the Biden administration is now forced once again to deal with the threat posed by the regime of Kim Jong Un, saying over the weekend its determination to protest its ally in Seoul was unshakeable. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on countries in the region to pressure North Korea to pull back.
Both South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida convened emergency meetings of their national security teams to assess the latest North Korean test. It was the first ICBM test by North Korea since November 2022, and only the second missile test of 2023. Some in South Korea believe that the North is conserving assets in order to react on an appropriate scale to upcoming war games, and many U.S. analysts fear Pyongyang is preparing for the first test of a new nuclear weapon since 2017.
While Seoul and Washington insist the spring drills are defensive, they customarily include, after a defense segment, a counter-attack. Pyongyang also changed its doctrine in 2022, warning that subordinates will now have the authority to respond with a nuclear weapon if the country’s leadership is taken out.
Let’s go Brandon!