Following North Korea’s (DPRK) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test fire on December 18th, many across the world were wondering what the communist dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, could be up to. Confirmed by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), they described the launch as successful, as it landed where they claimed to have aimed into the sea of Japan.
It was launched while the country boasted of their visit by Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Myong Ho to Beijing. He received a warm greeting and a vow that the nations would be working together and that they now had formed a deep trust in one another while meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In a canned statement, Wang made it clear that China has big plans for the DPRK regime and that they have a place for them at the table.
According to KCNA, the idea to launch the ICBM wasn’t to curry favor with China, or to impress them. Rather it was done in response to announced and planned military drills between South Korea, Japan, and the US. He sees the 70+ years of monitoring the country for possible attempts to harvest nuclear energy and develop nuclear weapons as a grave threat to North Korea.
The present situation clearly shows the inveterate confrontation stand of the U.S. and its predominant stooges keen on their unchangeable instinctive and constitutional ambition for aggression…and predicts a black augury of total destruction of the security environment in the Korean peninsula to be further aggravated.
Under the decision of the WPK Central Military Commission on neutralizing the enemies’ intentional and premeditated confrontational military threats with our strong behavioral warning. A drill of launching ICBM Hwasongpho-18 was staged as an important military action to clearly show the DPRK’s nuclear strategic forces’ overwhelming counteraction will and matchless strength to the enemies.”
The DPRK also claimed that Kim was not only present for the missile launch but that he also guided the process. As KCNA shared with the world on his behalf, “Noting that it was an occasion to clearly show what action the DPRK has been prepared and what option the DPRK would take when Washington makes a wrong decision against it. He appreciated that the drill once again and strikingly displayed the DPRK’s will for toughest counteraction and its overwhelming strength.”
With the missile launch coming before the exercises initially began, they were conducted with a bit more tooth and aggression to them. Commanders wanted to ensure the North Korean troops and Kim himself would find out what they could become up against. While they will never acknowledge it to their citizens or even openly to each other, the point has been made.
Given the recent ties between Kim and Russia, it would seem that the dictator is hell-bent on ensuring he has as many allies as he can. Done almost as if to tease Biden, the DPRK has exhaustively supported Russia in its efforts to attack Ukraine, culminating with Kim’s visit to the country in September, only to return home to a fleet of “kamikaze” or suicide drones waiting for his use at home. A clear violation of UN weapons treaties.
As President Biden fails to give North Korea the acknowledgment it wants, the Kim regime has been throwing temper tantrums. Done almost as if it’s his trademark for such moments, Kim simply wants to be acknowledged and made to feel like he is revered or well respected. He certainly won’t do anything to earn it, mind you. Instead, he will act like the special needs kid in class and use these tantrums to make people pay attention.
Never mind the fact that nobody paying attention suddenly fears the DPRK. Their most elite of troops are about as well trained as a common unit of US troops. They aren’t tough, and they aren’t battle-tested. Their missiles and rockets have historically lacked the punch needed to do the jobs Kim thinks they can do. Truthfully, even if the nukes are ready to fire, they aren’t making it here or even close.
