North Korea has conducted the most significant missile test in four years, which is the latest provocative action by an enemy of the United States during Joe Biden’s time in the White House.
The Washington Examiner reported:
“Initial South Korean and Japanese intelligence indicates North Korea tested what is presumed to be the longer-range, more capable, and more accurate Hwasong-17 missile, potentially with reentry technology. The liquid-fueled missile, paraded in 2020 during Workers’ Party of Korea 75th anniversary celebrations, reportedly reached an altitude of 3,728 miles, traveling 671 miles in 71 minutes.”
If reports are accurate, North Korea could have reentry technology that would allow them to mount more than one nuclear warhead on a missile to evade defense systems and hit multiple targets.
Thus far, Biden’s reaction to North Korean missile test threats is muted compared to President Trump’s response to North Korean aggression in 2017.
At the time, the 45th president said, “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
Trump then added, “He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said, they will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
Trump then ordered warships to the waters of the Korean peninsula and sent two B-1 bombers to fly over South Korea following a North Korean test launch.
Tensions were heightened when the official North Korean news agency seemed to indicate that an attack was being planned against the island of Guam. On this island, American military personnel is stationed.
At the time, the KCNA news agency said that North Korea was “carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the seas around Guam.”
Tensions rose when an accidental message was sent to mobile phone users in Hawaii saying, “ballistic missiles threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
These threats never came to pass, and President Trump’s actions brought North Korean leader Kim Jung Un to the table.
Trump and Kim held three historic summits, including a meeting in which President Trump became the first American president to cross the DMZ line into North Korea since the end of the Korean War.
As of now, Joe Biden has not followed the example of his predecessor’s example.
