North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles into its eastern waters on Monday, one of them flying more than 559 miles, because apparently the last few launches didn't make the point. The streak continues while Kim Jong Un keeps leaving Donald Trump on read.
Another Monday, Another Missile Barrage
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said missiles of various types lifted off from an area around Pyongyang, where the country's main airport has doubled as a launch site in recent years. Yes, the airport. Imagine your layover being delayed because the runway is busy with a ballistic missile. Spirit Airlines would still find a way to charge you for it.
One missile traveled more than 559 miles before splashing into the sea. South Korea's military declined to detail the flight paths of the others and never said how many it detected. Japan's Defense Ministry counted at least two and said they landed outside its exclusive economic zone. No damage was reported, which is the entire bar we've set for success at this point.
The Streak Nobody Asked For
This isn't a one-off. On Oct. 3, North Korea tested what it called a hypersonic intermediate-range missile, built specifically to evade the missile defenses in South Korea and Japan. Pyongyang has also run other missile tests and live-fire drills, and it commissioned a new warship along the way.
The pattern is obvious. Kim wants a bigger arsenal of nuclear-capable systems, and he's building one in public, on a schedule, with the confidence of a guy who has noticed that nothing happens when he does it.
Seoul Built a Fast Toy of Its Own
The timing matters. Just three days before the launches, South Korea flight-tested its own homegrown hypersonic weapon, designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and slip past missile defenses. President Lee Jae Myung called it critical to strengthening the South's conventional defense.
Lee's office did not directly mention North Korea, which is a bit like announcing you've bought a very large dog and a very tall fence without mentioning the neighbor. South Korea's military said Monday's launches likely served to advance the North's technology and may also have been a response to that test. Analysts are still working out whether the North tested its own hypersonic tech this time. Seoul says the event is still being analyzed.
Land Mines and Other Neighborly Gestures
Last month, three South Korean soldiers were injured in land mine explosions near the heavily armed inter-Korean border. The South's military and the U.S.-led United Nations Command concluded the devices were planted by North Korea.
Pyongyang denied it and ridiculed the South's demand for an apology. So the sequence goes: soldiers get hurt, the evidence points north, and the response is a shrug followed by more missiles. Kim has already cut off all diplomacy and cooperation with Seoul and calls it a permanent enemy. You don't plant mines in your own backyard for the friendship.
Trump Keeps Dialing, Kim Keeps Declining
Here's the part Washington would rather you skip. Kim has so far rebuffed Trump's calls to revive the diplomacy that collapsed in 2019. His government's terms are clear: abandon the "hostile" policy toward Pyongyang and drop the demand for denuclearization as a precondition for talks.
That second demand is the whole ballgame. Kim is saying he'll talk once America agrees the nukes are permanent. Years of summits, photo ops, and love letters, and the guy is still testing missiles every few days.
The Dingo Take
"Very good relationship" is the line we keep hearing about Trump and Kim, and Monday's missiles are Kim's reply. A man who rejects your calls, plants land mines near the border, and fires ballistic missiles toward Japan is not in a relationship with you. He is a stalker with a space program, and you are the one who keeps texting.
The real danger here isn't any single launch. It's the drift. Diplomacy is frozen, both Koreas are racing to field hypersonic weapons built to beat each other's defenses, and soldiers are already coming home injured from mines. Every one of those pieces makes the next miscalculation more likely and the off-ramp harder to find.
The summits were supposed to prove that personal charm could do what decades of policy couldn't. Instead, Kim got the legitimacy, kept the nukes, and now treats the American president's outreach like spam. Pretty sure that's not what "winning" looks like.
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