In a possible sign that the Biden administration’s weak-kneed approach to projecting American military strength is already bearing fruit, there’s breaking news out of North Korea today.
According to the Associated Press:
North Korea says it successfully test fired what it described as newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months that underscored how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
The Korean Central News Agency said Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, successfully hit targets 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) away during its flight tests on Saturday and Sunday. The North hailed its new missiles as a “strategic weapon of great significance” that meets leader Kim Jong Un’s call to strengthen the country’s military might.
The South Korean military didn’t immediately confirm the North Korean tests.
The wire service report notes that there’s been a “pause” in testing by Kim and the hermit kingdom, though the most recent ones back in March were short-range missiles.
North Korea ended a yearlong pause in ballistic tests in March by firing two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, continuing a tradition of testing new U.S. administrations with weapons demonstrations aimed at measuring Washington’s response and wresting concessions.
But there hadn’t been any known test launches for months after that.
While AP goes on to speculate that Kim has held off on rattling sabers because Pyongyang was “focused [on] national efforts on fending off the coronavirus and salvaging a broken economy damaged further by pandemic border closures,” one can’t help but wonder if the current administration hasn’t helped embolden the dictator and others like him around the world with the debacle in leaving Afghanistan how we did.