North Korea launches medium-range ballistic missile: Probing or challenging?

(Baonghean) - After various sources, yesterday (February 13), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) officially confirmed that the country had successfully test-launched a medium-range ballistic missile. The incident took place while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was visiting the US, which was considered a move with many messages that the DPRK sent to these two countries.

South Korean people watch news about North Korea's missile test launch. (Source: Reuters)

New Year Message

In a news release on February 13, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that North Korea confirmed that it had "successfully" test-fired a ballistic missile. Specifically, "a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Pukguksong-2 was successfully test-fired on February 12."

Looking at this development, public opinion is not too surprised. Because the missile test launches of the DPRK often carry many hidden messages that this country wants to send to the international community. This time, it is the US and Japan.

The missile test took place while the Japanese Prime Minister was on a visit to the US to strengthen the alliance under the new President Donald Trump. North Korea's move is easy to explain, because after the summit, the two leaders of the US and Japan agreed to coordinate to ensure strong defense against all security threats in the region.

The DPRK has always been “frustrated” with the close relationship between the US and its regional allies, Japan and South Korea. Any security cooperation, military cooperation or military exercises between the trio and North Korea are steps that can threaten the security of this country. Especially in the context of the US having a new President, the missile launch of North Korea is considered to be a test to probe the attitude of the Donald Trump administration.

The public must remember that during the first term of his predecessor Barack Obama, the DPRK immediately conducted an underground nuclear explosion a few months after Obama took office. Therefore, the “gift” that the North Korean government gave to the new President Donald Trump is no exception.

However, there are also other opinions that the test-firing of a medium-range missile is also the intention of the DPRK, as it only wants to probe and not challenge the new US President. Obviously, in the context of the North Korean nuclear dossier being a common concern of the international community, closing the door to negotiations will not be beneficial for this country.

In particular, North Korea's only ally, China, has recently publicly issued statements criticizing the country. Most recently, on February 13, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang stressed at a press conference that North Korea's actions were contrary to United Nations resolutions, and at the same time demanded that North Korea stop its nuclear weapons program and not conduct any more nuclear and missile tests. Therefore, there are optimistic opinions that North Korea's missile test was simply aimed at celebrating the upcoming birthday (February 16) of the late leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-un's father.

The North Korean nuclear issue is one of the difficult challenges for US President Donald Trump. (Source: CNN)

America is confused?

While North Korea's intentions are not too surprising, the US has had controversial reactions to the Trump administration's behavior. In his speech during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after North Korea's missile launch, Mr. Trump pledged to support his Asian allies. There is no denying that this is a strong message that Mr. Trump wants to send to North Korea. However, many opinions say that the fact that Mr. Trump did not mention North Korea in his statement may be revealing many different problems.

Some say that Mr. Trump’s decision not to directly mention the DPRK was a necessary and timely move. He did not choose the same approach as his predecessor, Barack Obama, such as strongly criticizing or imposing new sanctions on North Korea.

This stream of opinion believes that Mr. Trump is choosing to avoid the US being dragged into new confrontations, while still committing to supporting allies. Next, Mr. Trump gave the floor to White House Advisor Stephen Miller to affirm that the US is committed to ensuring the security of its allies in the Pacific region and will support allies against any hostile actions by North Korea.

While some praised Mr. Trump’s behavior, others said that this move only revealed that the US government is really confused about the North Korea dossier. On the one hand, President Trump has not yet chosen a suitable solution for the North Korea issue. On the other hand, Mr. Trump’s team is really lacking in human resources who can “take on” this difficult problem.

Meanwhile, cooperation with the leading rival, China, to solve the North Korea problem will certainly be difficult. Therefore, the new US President is still having to explore and find a suitable method. Combined with the statement on his personal Twitter page in early January emphasizing that North Korea will never test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), analysts say that President Donald Trump is putting himself in an extremely difficult position.

Phuong Hoa