North Korea Fires Short-Range Missiles

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 18, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                         

              Firing a new round of short-range missiles, 28-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un sent a loud message to the U.S. and South Korean to not mess with the world’s last Stalinist state.  After Kim’s intemperate threats of nuclear war last month, any North Korean missile test must be taken seriously, especially when it comes to security on the Korean Peninsula.  While Kim threatened nuclear war and rescinded the 1954 armistice the established the “demilitarized zone” and the border between the two Koreas at the 38th parallel, he’s been off the radar screen until today’s short-range missile launch.  Taking over from his deceased father Kim Jong-Il Dec. 17, 2011, the pudgy-faced Kim has tried hard to burnish his control over the North Korean military and Communist Party.  Today’s missile launch was another assertion of power for the inexperienced North Korean leader.

             Firing short-range missiles off North Korea’s east coast, Kim sent 61-year-old South Korean President Park Geun-Hye a message, especially after Park’s recent of threats of devastating retaliation for any more North Korean aggression.  Park’s predecessor, Lee Myung-Bak, sat idly by while Kim’s late father torpedoed a South Korean Patrol Boat Cheonan March 26, 2010, killing 46, injuring 56 seaman.  Before his Dec. 17, 2011, the eccentric Kim Jong-Il ordered the shelling of Yeonpeong Island Nov. 23, 2010, killing 4 and injuring 19.  Fearing a resumption of the Korean War, Lee didn’t retaliate, emboldening more aggression from the North.  Unlike Lee, Park has promised swift-and-effective retribution for any more North Korean aggression, prompting more saber-rattling but forcing Kim to back down.  Today’s missile launch ratchets up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

             Fearing a possible escalation, South Korean officials said they’re monitoring the situation closely but see nothing new.  “North Korea fired short-range guided missiles twice in the morning and once in the afternoon off its east coast,” said the South Korean Defense Ministry.  “In case of an provocation, the ministry will keep monitoring the situation and remain on alert,” said the Defense Ministry official.  When the U.S. and South Korean began routine naval exercises Feb. 4, Kim started threatening nuclear war and rescinded the 59-year-old armistice.  When the U.S.S. Nimitz joined the South Korean navy in joint exercises May 14, Kim follows again with new missile launches.  U.S. officials see a link between joint military exercises with South Korean and Kim’s new missile launches.   Since joint exercises began Feb. 4, President Barack Obama has downplayed the war-of-words.

             North Korean has had a history of threatening South Korea, blackmailing the West for more economic concessions.  With Kim now at the reins, he’s followed closely in his father’s footsteps, threatening the West with nuclear war and resumption of Korean War.  “We continue to urge North Korea to exercise restraint and take steps to improve its relations with its neighbors,” said a joint State Department and Pentagon statement.  Unlike the past when North Korea could rely on its Chinese Communist ally, Beijing no longer gives Kim a blank check when it comes to its belligerent actions like firing missiles or ramping up its nuclear program.  Kim, and his father, has used South Korea’s industrial development and prosperity as leverage against possible armed conflict.  Fearing a resumption of war, South Korean has bent over backwards to avoid armed conflict.

             Western powers hoped that things would be different when the young Kim to the reins from his Beluga caviar-eating and Dom Peringnon guzzling father.  While North Korea suffers from widespread famine and poverty, its pudgy leader feasted on European delicacies and threatens the Western world.  “We have been clear to North Korea that its long-term interests will not be served by threatening the international community and increasing regional tensions,” said the British Foreign Office.  South Korea understands the profound desperation found in North Korea, whose only means of survival involves enslaving its population and threatening regional powers.  White House officials have shown Kim too much deference rather that setting firm limits before setting firm “red lines” to prevent more of Kim’s threatening international behavior and contempt for his own people.

                   South Korea’s first woman president Park Geun-Hye has got it right threatening massive retaliation as a deterrent to North Korean aggression.  Murdering countless South Koreans won’t help create the right conditions for joining the international community.  Instead of wringing her hands over fears about restarting the Korean War, Geun-Hye has figured out that Kim knows and responds to only force.  More threats and missile tests don’t tell the whole story of North Korea, whose reclusive leaders has the formidable job of brainwashing an entire population.  Bluffing his way to the bank, Kim Jong-Un has a far bigger fish to fry consolidating power within his own Politburo rather that taking on the West.   As Park found out quickly after taking office Feb. 12, 2013 , standing up to Kim is the best way to get her Communist neighbor to stop making threats and return to the bargaining table.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.