Daily Times

So those who thought, even for an awkward moment, that North Korea wouldn’t hit back with more surprises should stop nitpicking immediately. It’s about time that world should have been realized that North Korea was always there, clinging, rightsizing its chances to stage another hostile display among the ongoing global contestation between two super powers. The prognoses never looked less dire even when Kim shook hands with Trump, back in 2018, while both were seen cheerfully ‘traversing across’ demarcation line between the ‘two Koreas’.

The failed romance between North Korea and United States of America!

The romance between United States and North Korea started off as usual. Initially, a streak of fuming moments were flipped across, after North Korea attempts for nuclear missiles testing came off as revelation. From the horse’s mouth, it was claimed that North Korea could strike UK from a humongous distance of 8,400 Kilometers: appalling news it came out to be, univocally. Further, a whirlwind of high drama saw United States’ submarines and warships being handed over to South Korea for quelling North Korea, but that only served as an overture to the official dialogues between US and North Korea. Finally, after years of failed policy dialogue, Kim Jong-un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, chose to initiate dialogues with Donald trump, the then US president. The meetings went reasonably ‘straight from the shoulder yet effective. As an outcome, North Korea vowed to stop nuclear weapons testing and rather dissembled to shut its nuclear testing site in North of country, that, honest to God, none of us knows about yet. Despite Trump pulling out of talks with Kim Jong-un, the cordiality somehow survived between the two and they both were seen assembling at Singapore later. This was the time when an incredibly historic reconciliation, after 10 years, had happened at the border between North and South Korea prior to Trump’s encounter. The vibes were coming out good and nice, denuclearization was discussed and partially agreed upon, yet North Korea continued to test missiles since then!

2022’s Guinness world record of ballistic missile testing

The new leaf of this chapter begins with the ‘2022’s Guinness world record of ballistic missile testing’ stint carried out by North Korea in the first month of the current year: perhaps the best possible way North Korea thought of cheering global audience with! Kim Jong-un, the bold and the beautiful, never disappoints. He made sure to do the most powerful testing in five years whereupon garnering admonishment not only from global leadership but also from Southern Korea, that clearly stated it as a ‘show of force and intimidation’.

The seventh missile test of January 2022 saw fiery capsules leaving off station, Jagang, a province of North Korea, and ultimately plunging into the sea off the country’s east coast. Since North Korea and Japan have a bone to pick with each other, the former usually tests intermediate- and long-range missiles launched at a steep angle, reaching an altitude of 1,242 miles while covering a distance of 497 miles, to avoid any aerial contact with Japanese territory, that otherwise might be deemed as highly offensive.

Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, denounced the act outright while declaring it as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The office of president feared that Kim Jong-un could lift the self-imposed moratorium anytime and continue its nuclear testing that he supposedly postponed in 2018, according to the statement passed on by Kim’s office: “If it’s an intermediate-range ballistic missile that they launched, it means that North Korea has come close to abandoning its moratorium,” President Mr. Moon Jae-in warned at the floor of National Security Council saying the only way forward is to stop testing and resume dialogues with United States, and take up the offers from South Korea nonetheless.

Sounds good? Let’s move on!

North Korea sneaks up the show makers’ list?

While we’re settling down to a definite proposition, there is another narrative jumbling around: “the recent testing leaves commentators guessing if North Korea’s manifestation is meant to put pressure on President Biden?” My o my! If this is how it is, it is tricky and rather foxy—don’t get carried away with the last word, we aren’t discussing President Putin here, mind you! The bigger picture reveals that it’s not just South Korea that might have been got bead on, the aim could possibly be set at United States, especially when the latter is directly under threats of losing its monopoly as it has met with an immediate showdown by Russia, which is all set to reassert its control over the states, that once formed the Soviet Union. The animosity between the heavy weights is escalating and who knows if North Korea would want to settle among the show makers club!

Kim has certainly stepped on the gas; he is checking on his weaponry to prepare his forces for a “long-term confrontation” with the United States. This is why, probably, he has been widening his artillery through the value-addition of potent missiles for three years now—consecutive three years of stock piling. Had it been just South Korea being the one offended, United State’s former president Donald Trump wouldn’t be threatening North Korea with his “fire and fury” in response to recent testing, it clearly reveals the Kim’s show has taken a toll on White House’s former administration. Trump didn’t just resort to verbal spat, he went on to persuade U.N. Security Council to impose more sanctions on the North for the better and termed his meetings with Kim as fruitless.

Now are you interested in knowing the ‘other-side of the story’?

The North Korea’s narrative might be too hard to swallow yet worth-mentioning here—though entails no rational connotation. The recent article written by Mitch Shin, Chief Koreas Correspondent for The Diplomat and a non-resident Research Fellow of the Institute for Security & Development Policy (ISDP), states: “After North Korea notched a record-breaking month for missile tests in January, many experts have explained the series of launches by saying that North Korea is trying to draw attention from the United States, as Pyongyang has fallen out of the top priority list due to tensions with China and Russia. North Korea is not preparing for future negotiations with the United States and South Korea, nor do its missile tests represent Kim’s desire to return to the negotiating table by enticing the U.S. to make concessions first. More clearly, North Korea will not suddenly come back to the table and respond to Washington’s offer for talks “anytime, anywhere, with no preconditions” this year.”

The notorious Hydrogen Bomb is with North Korea!

Well, we may pick the last discourse with grain of salt as it comes off a territory that, for some reasons, wanting to be a part of this hostile game, in case, yet it deserves a few penny of considerations whatsoever. Unfortunately, North Korea isn’t holding back any punches and rather driving everyone up the wall with its range of destructive missiles fleet: from short-range missile to intermediate-range ballistic missile tests. Alongside it has officially tested three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and what it said was a notorious and horrifying hydrogen bomb, yes, you’ve heard it right!

I would suggest everyone must retrace Kim Jong-un’s New Year (2018) address where he said he always had his nuclear launch button on his desk. We don’t know if Biden’s button is bigger than Trump’s one, the time shall reveal the truth. However, the high drama is inevitable because the gladiator is back!

The writer is based in Islamabad. He can be reached at mbilal.isbpk@gmail.com, FB/mbilal.16