Biden Can’t Ignore North Korea’s Missiles Much Longer
If the U.S. president can’t find a way to reenergize diplomacy soon, he may well face a renewed nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has ushered in the new year with a barrage of missile tests.
Photographer: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
Between Ukraine, Iran, Taiwan and Afghanistan, President Joe Biden has more than enough global problems to focus on. Unfortunately, he needs to add one more: North Korea.
Dictator Kim Jong Un has ushered in the new year with a barrage of missile launches — 11 so far, including what now appears to have been the first test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile since 2017. Kim has reasons for now to avoid provoking a major crisis, which would overshadow his ally China’s hosting of the Winter Olympics. But events are trending in a dangerous direction. Kim’s regime has again threatened to restart tests of long-range ballistic missiles that could reach the United States, as well as nuclear weapons. That would bring him into direct confrontation with the U.S. for the first time in more than four years.