Well, Kim Jong-un got to shoot off another missile this weekend, and since it didn’t just blow up instantly, that meant it was time to brag about it.
File photo from April 15, 2017, during a North Korean military parade, of the Hwasong missile (photo: AP/Wong Maye-E)
North Korea said Monday the missile it launched over the weekend was a new type of “medium long-range” ballistic rocket that can carry a heavy nuclear warhead. A jubilant leader Kim Jong Un promised more nuclear and missile tests and warned that North Korean weapons could strike the U.S. mainland and Pacific holdings.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency called the missile a “new ground-to-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic rocket,” and said the “Hwasong-12″ was “capable of carrying a large, heavy nuclear warhead.” Kim Jong Un witnessed the test and “hugged officials in the field of rocket research, saying that they worked hard to achieve a great thing,” according to KCNA.
The rocket, “newly designed in a Korean-style,” flew 787 kilometers (490 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers (1,310 miles), the North said, and “verified the homing feature of the warhead under the worst re-entry situation and accurate performance of detonation system.”
While every North Korean claim needs to be taken with a grain of salt, it’s clear that Kim Jong-un does not give a care who tells him what to do or not do. He is going to shoot off missiles for funsies, because said dictator wants to look big and bad. The problem is that this is bad, and no one is willing just yet to tell Kim to knock it off.
South Korea just elected a new president, Moon Jae-in, a liberal who has said he would be willing to visit North Korea to talk. So much for talking.
The launch complicates the new South Korean president’s plan to talk to the North, and came as U.S., Japanese and European navies gather for joint war games in the Pacific.
“The president expressed deep regret over the fact that this reckless provocation … occurred just days after a new government was launched in South Korea,” senior presidential secretary Yoon Young-chan said. “The president said we are leaving open the possibility of dialogue with North Korea, but we should sternly deal with a provocation to prevent North Korea from miscalculating.”
UN Ambassador Nikki Haley was not pleased with North Korea, and had no problem saying so.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pointed directly at China to act.
“The greatest responsibility for bringing North Korea to its senses … lies with China,” Turnbull says.
“They have the overwhelming dominant economic relationship with North Korea and because they have the greatest leverage, they have the greatest responsibility,” he added.
While Turnbull poked at China, the White House looked at Russia.
JUST IN: White House statement on North Korea missile test: "North Korea has been a flagrant menace for far too long." pic.twitter.com/2yl8yMhLkA
— ABC News (@ABC) May 14, 2017
If (and that’s a very big IF) Russia and China can be convinced to get on board to rein in North Korea, this entire crisis would be over quickly. Kim Jong-un would find himself without an ally with deep pockets, supplies to keep the missiles coming, or any kind of political alliance. But what will it take for Russia and China to finally decide that Kim has overstepped his bounds? Probably nothing short of an attack on their sovereign soil. Is Kim Jong-un reckless enough to push their buttons? Probably not. That means that President Trump, Prime Minister Turnbull, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and new South Korean President Moon are going to have to make some tough decisions, and then see if either China or Russia is willing to help.
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